


Synthesis Shepard

by NilioJ13



Series: G. Shepard [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/F, Hermaphrodites
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-04
Updated: 2014-06-03
Packaged: 2018-02-03 08:15:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 32,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1737638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NilioJ13/pseuds/NilioJ13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*Set after the Synthesis ending of ME3* Shepard has survived her sacrifice to merge synthetics and organics, and her friends and allies are overjoyed to find her alive again, but is she the same hero she was before?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Surviving Synthesis

Chapter I: Surviving Synthesis.

The soulless darkness parted momentarily to blinding white light, before it was snuffed out by the inky blackness. Mere moments passed before it was broken again by the same blinding light, but the darkness again consumed her. Suddenly there was feeling; she had a body, or the remains of one. She attempted to take a breath, but her lungs refused to draw it. When she tried to move, she was embraced by unbearable pain. She faintly felt like she was floating, the air searing her tender skin.

"We've got a live Jane Doe here," a faint voice called. "Get me a respirator and blood ASAP, she's pale and barely alive and we…" but the darkness quickly silenced those sounds. She was left in an all-consuming void. There was no light, no up, no down and only silence for company. But she was not alone in the emptiness for long, as memories began to return to her, giving her a fleeting escape from the void.

The last thing that she could remember, from before the flashes of light, was the Crucible docking with the Citadel, and then the feeling of being engulfed in a brilliant, searing green light, but no recollection of the moments between them. Perhaps the interlude was not relevant or important. She then had flashes of other, more pleasing memories. Of companions whom she hoped had survived, Garrus, Tali, Javik, James, Ashley, Steve, Samantha, Joker, EDI, Wrex and Liara, plus many others whom she had cared for deeply, and hoped they had survived.

But these were not alone, and soon more painful memories greeted her; memories of those who hadn't made it to the final fight. She saw; Kaidan, Mordin, Thane, Nyreen and Legion. She felt her face burn with pain, and this snapped her back to reality. A single, salty tear had formed at the memories, and its touch against her cheek burned her back to reality.

She forced herself to open her eyes, but felt severe pain when she tried. She tried to scream but her lungs were raw, unresponsive and weak, her jaw was also weak and it hurt to move. She tried thrashing and the pain intensified. But something did not feel right, parts of her body were unresponsive, or felt disconnected. Before her mind settled into these thoughts; the sounds of muffled voices reached her and a numbing, peaceful feeling coursed through her veins. She once again succumbed to the darkness.

The time she had spent in darkness was unfathomable, but it didn't matter, she had to escape the unconsciousness. Once more she forced her eyes to open, fighting the pain that fought against her. She was met with a blinding white light and she had to blink repeatedly to fight against it and attempt to focus her vision. Slowly she looked at her fuzzy surroundings. Her first assumption was that she was not on Earth, as she remembered it as rubble. Her surroundings were intact and mostly quiet. A faint hum informed her that she was on-board a ship, and the décor told her it was human in origin. She could see now, her vision restored and everything was now in full focus.

Her attention turned to the outline of her body in the hospital bed, or what little there was visible. She could see numerous wires and pipes running from machines around her to different parts of her body, both electrical and pneumatic. What depressed her was the evident signs of missing or unresponsive parts of her body, but she was thankful that the chemical kept the pain, both emotional and physical, at bay.

She looked over to the wall and saw X-rays of her body, and her pain became a little more real, even bringing another tear to burn against her cheek. Her skeletal outline lacked several ribs, right hand fingers, lower legs and feet, but most harrowing was the missing left arm. Part of her did not want to learn the condition of her skin and muscle she'd lost, at least for now. Instead she looked above the slides and saw that her identity was unknown to all. The name 'Jane Doe' was on all the files, and a note was visible beside her X-rays.

"Subject was found lying in a cratered field north of London, Great Britain. She is presumed to be a survivor of Sword or Hammer." It read.

A memory flashed into her mind. She remembered an intense space battle above Earth, the galaxy against the… for the survival of all. But the name of the great enemy eluded her, and neither could she remember the outcome. Attendants and nurses rushed in when they had been informed she was conscious, they quickly tended to her welfare.

"Hello there, do you know where you are?" one of them asked cautiously, she tried to speak but couldn't find her voice, so she shook her head, thanking the maker she was numbed to the pain.

"You're in a temporary medical facility on the SSV London. It is a miracle you're alive. The Reapers slaughtered thousands of people where you were found, especially during the battle." another said warmly.

The Reapers, she now remembered the ancient enemy that had tried to wipe out all civilized life in the galaxy, as a part of a 'cycle' of extinctions. The attendant nearest her requested to take a skin sample for identification, to which Shepard nodded slowly. They took the sample from her and scanned it. A few quiet moments passed before it bleeped to announce it had found a match, the attendant gasped and showed it to her colleagues.

"It can't be, but she was…, we need to be sure before we follow the order given by the admiral." the first gasped.

Another attendant took another reading and showed the response to the others before they bustled out of the room. She then thought about what they had said, what order could they have been given concerning whoever she was, and more importantly who had given it. But her body was tired from the few exertions she'd done so she once more drifted into a familiar darkness.

When she awoke again, a figure stood before her, dressed in Alliance military dress, flanked by attendants and an armed escort by the door. It took a moment before she recognized the figure; instinctively she raised the remains of her right arm into salute. An attendant moved to help her lower it again. The figure smirked sternly, Admiral Hackett was always a serious man, but he admired that the remains of a hero before him would endure intense pain just to salute him.

The Admiral eyed the remains before him, trying to discern something that would confirm the rumours that the now legendary Commander Shepard was the person in front of him. She, on the other hand, now noticed something strange, Hackett, his guards and the attendants all had glowing green eyes. It perplexed her greatly as to what could have caused it, and she began to wonder if she too had glowing green eyes, instead of her brilliant blue ones.

The admiral nodded and the attendant that had helped lower her arm, now gently attached something to her head. It was similar in design to a pair of sunglasses, but instead of glass was a holographic keypad.

"Use your eyes to spell out words, then select enter when done" the attendant said in a comforting manner. Slowly and cautiously, Shepard used the tool to spell out her first sentence and hit enter."

"Admiral Hackett" a synthetic voice said from the device. "What happened? Where's the Normandy?"

Hackett let a smile appear on his face, it was Shepard, but the smile faded when he addressed the question.

"You activated the Crucible and it fired a green energy beam, and that seemed to stop the Reaper's attacks." He stated. "But now from what we've uncovered, everyone is part synthetic, part organic. And regarding the Normandy; we do not know of its current location. Communications are bad; and movement beyond the Sol system is slow, as the crucible's energy has apparently destroyed or damaged all the Mass relays, as well as the Citadel and Crucible."

There was a pause before she used the device to continue the conversation.

"What happened to me?" His reply this time was instantaneous.

"We do not know for certain. Our best guess is you burned up on re-entry into earth's atmosphere, but that wouldn't account for you still being alive. Unprotected re-entry is fatal. What do you remember?"

Shepard told him of the searing green light before everything went dark, and of what little else she could remember.

"Well that doesn't explain the synthetic-organic hybrids that everyone seems to have become, but it's a start. I'll leave you to your rest, we will put as many resources we can into your recovery." Hackett stated.

With that he turned and left, without another word, so did the guards and the attendants leaving her alone, but she quickly returned to sleep. She woke screaming a short time later screaming, or at least raspy partial screams. She had dreamed of talking to a 'god child' atop the Crucible, where she had chosen to merge organic and synthetic. The idea frightened her, especially how implausible the god-child's view was, and the idea that it created and controlled the Reapers, seeking to destroy civilizations every fifty thousand years to stop chaos. The whole thing seemed far too ridiculous to be plausible, and it scared her of the repercussions for such a concept actually existing.


	2. Saving Commander Shepard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Work begins to bring Shepard back from near death

Chapter II: Saving Commander Shepard.

Hackett inspected the scans of Shepard's remains, and listened to the doctors and surgeons who suggested options of save the galaxy's greatest hero, as well as paying heed to the advice they gave. But he didn't like what he was hearing, they could only do so much for the commander, and the post-reaper crises meant they would have difficulty repairing her quickly.

After talking with the doctors he took a private shuttle from the SSV London, to a smaller ship, which took him to a holding facility on the edge of the Sol system. Here the Alliance was holding numerous ex-Cerberus prisoners were being held, until they could face judgement for their actions. He followed the guards to the high profile wing of the facility, where Miranda Lawson was being held. She had been caught by a patrol group on Earth following the battle. As he approached, she seemed genuinely surprised at his visit, but greeted him warmly.

"Admiral Hackett, what brings you to my cell?" she asked curiously, standing to face the admiral. He looked sternly at her, his glowing eyes boring into her own, and said one word.

"Shepard."

Miranda looked shocked at the name, "she survived?" There was a hint of concern in her voice, but the ex-Cerberus agent kept her calm composure.

"Barely" Hackett responded. "She was found in a field north of London, heavily charred with body parts missing and her vital organs barely working, or fully exposed. She's currently in isolation aboard a private medical facility. I came here because you brought her back from the dead once, and hoped you could help do it again."

There was a moments silence before Miranda gave a measured and considered response.

"If I help, I would like the charges against me dropped. I quit Cerberus before the Reaper invasion and had no part in the atrocities committed by my father at Sanctuary.” A smile crept across her face. “In fact I helped Shepard shut him down, and personally killed him to save my sister. That is the one term for getting my help."

Hackett nodded and pressed the cell release button, opening the door. When she stepped out, two guards stepped forward to escort her, but the admiral waved them away. He personally led Miranda back to the ship he had arrived on.

The journey to the medical ship was made in silence; neither Miranda nor Hackett spoke to each other. Once they arrived on the medical ship, Hackett gave her a full briefing of the Commander's condition, but he refused to let Miranda see Shepard yet as the doctors were busy sealing and grafting donor flesh on to the exposed muscles and veins. Their attention was currently focused on her stomach, where most tissue had been burned away.

Only after they had finished the briefing was Miranda was given permission to enter Shepard's room. When she entered her room, there was complete silence until the commander regained consciousness. It took mere seconds for her to recognise Miranda, and a smile cracked her damaged face. Miranda smiled and gave a quick mock salute before calmly walking to Shepard's side and kissing her tenderly on the forehead.

"I thought you were dead, there was no word when I was on Earth, and my incarceration didn't help matters, but it's good to see you again." Miranda said quickly.

Shepard tried to speak, to say something to her girlfriend, but her lungs were still inactive, and oxygen was still being machine-fed into her. Instead she looked to her bedside table, and the optical device she was forced to communicate with. A nurse rushed in and helped Miranda place the device over Shepard's eyes.

"Oh Miri, I'm so happy to see you" the device said in its monotone voice, Miranda smiled.

"Don't worry Shepard. Hackett asked me to lead the effort to 'resurrect' you, seeing as I've brought you back to life once already" she said, a hint of a joke etched in her sentence.

"Wouldn't have it any other way" the device replied, which made Miranda chuckle slightly.

"But I must be honest with you as always" Miranda said in a sad tone, "you may not be entirely yourself again; I don't have the resources I had last time. I promise to do the very best I can to put you back to the great commander Georgia Shepard again." Shepard managed a smile as the device chimed in.

"Just don't put a control chip in me" it said, Miranda blushed and shoved the commander gently.

"Don't say that, you know how I feel about that decision" she said jokingly but with a hint of sincerity.

Miranda looked over the remains of her Shepard, at the bandaged areas and the missing pieces. She let out a weary sigh, so much had been lost from the woman she loved, and so much would not be restored. She smiled weakly to Shepard, kissed her again on the forehead and quietly left. She needed to begin the commander's reconstruction as soon as possible, so she could save the woman she loved and bring her back into her life as quickly as possible.

The first matter that Miranda wanted to sort out first was Shepard's basic systems, including respiratory and vocal functions; this was secretly due to her she wanting to hear her girlfriend's voice again, instead of that seemingly uncomfortable and irritating device.

Within a week of Miranda's introduction to the restoration efforts, the frame of Georgia Shepard's body was relatively whole. A mixture of synthetic and organic skin, nerves and muscle now covered the entirety of her body. She was also happy that some of her organs were now capable of functioning unsupported by the machines. But Shepard was still without her left arm, right hand's fingers and both lower legs below the knee because progress on finding a suitable replacement was slow and laborious, which frustrated Miranda to no end. But Miranda was thankful that at the very least, Georgia could just about speak, as she found out when she entered her room after a lengthy high risk surgical operation.

"Hey Georgia" Miranda said as she entered.

Shepard smiled, the skin grafts on her face hadn't fully healed and she was still bald in places, but this didn't dampen her spirits.

"Hey Miri" she replied weakly, her voice hoarse from the procedures that had rejuvenated it.

Miranda smiled with joy at hearing her voice again, the first time since the Battle for Earth. The couple hugged and Shepard kissed her girlfriend weakly, for the first time since their date at a Citadel casino over three weeks ago. Her lips tingled at the intimate touch, her nerves were numb from the Novocaine they’d used to dull the pain in her muscles.

"It's so good to hear your voice again, even if it's still rather raw" Miranda said as her a tear formed at the corner of her right eye.

Shepard raised the stump of her right hand and clumsily wiped the tear away. Miranda clasped the hand between hers, before forcing herself to kiss her girlfriend again and leave, to organize the next stage of the revival.

The remainder of the organic reconstruction was complete within six months, thanks to Miranda's surviving contacts and expertise. The doctors managed to replace or regrow the missing tissue and muscle, including the missing ribs from her rib cage, which finally allowed the commander to breath unsupported.

As it was the only viable replacement for her missing limbs in the post-war Sol system, Miranda and the doctors were forced to replaced her legs and feet with artificial ones made from a flexible, yet strong metallic alloy, with intricate cybernetics allowing for the commander to control them like natural legs. However the proudest part of Miranda’s work to bring her girlfriend back to life, was the replacement left arm they grafted into place. Made from the same metallic alloy as the legs, it could also function like a normal arm, but the surgeons went a stage further, incorporating an omni-tool into the arm, as well as some basic tech that would allow Georgia to channel her biotics through it.

Exactly half a year after she had been recovered from the Battle of Earth 2185, Miranda stood at Shepard's side as she took her first steps on her new legs. She wobbled at first, slowly coming to terms with her senses and feelings through her new metal extremities. She gained her composure and hugged her girlfriend.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you" she whispered into Miranda's ear exasperated, Miranda smiled and kissed her on the lips passion oozing from her.

"It's good to have you back" she replied softly.

Miranda's hand slid under the hospital nightgown and caressed the healed skin on her ample breasts, marvelling at how the surgeon's work at getting them exactly as they used to be.

"Now who's impatient" the commander whispered, as Miranda's hand passed down over her stomach, but retracted it when she reached the crotch, and stared into Georgia's face with confusion,

"What happened down here?" she asked slowly, Georgia simply smiled innocently.

"I may have requested a slight enlargement, but could you blame me." Georgia chuckled/

Miranda sighed, "oh Shepard, my beautiful hermaphrodite, I knew you wouldn't resist the opportunity."

They started laughing as Hackett entered her room. As usual he was flanked by two armed guards. The pair looked at him, and the laughter was extinguished when he didn't share their happiness, his face instead etched with concern.

"We have to go, NOW!"


	3. Out of the Purple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new enemy rises

Chapter III: Out of the Purple.

As they walked quickly out of the door, Georgia stumbling as she was still unused to her new legs, the room behind them was vaporized by a direct hit. Moments later, several more caused the frigate to pitch to one side, and fall out of its orbit around Mars.

Shepard, Miranda, Hackett and his guards fell against the wall as the ship shook with the hits. Shepard was first to her feet and hauled Hackett and Miranda to their feet, she did not bother with the guards, as they had been killed by the explosion. Hackett led them through the rapidly descending ship, as Miranda protected them from the blasts and debris with a biotic shield. As the ship rapidly plunged through Mars’ atmosphere, they had no time to wonder who had attacked them. Hackett's shuttle was meters away as they entered the hangar, but before they could escape, a direct hit sealed the hangar doors shut.

"Fuck" Miranda screamed as Hackett helped her into the shuttle, he then held out his hand to Shepard who declined.

"Just get ready to launch, I'll take care of the door" Georgia growled.

She walked away from the shuttle and flexed her limbs, feeling her biotic and tech abilities pulsing into life inside her metallic limbs. She channelled her biotics into a single energy inside her, holding it in place and feeling it build. She waited until she was visibly glowing with the blue light, and it felt like it would rip her apart, before pushing it forward, toward the hangar door. she was glowing in the blinding blue light. The shear force propelled her in the opposite direction, straight into the shuttle, as the energy blasted the frigate's hangar door clean off the ship. The pilot did not need any orders to take this opportunity to flee the sinking ship.

Whilst Hackett and Miranda stared at Shepard in disbelief; a chilling horn sounded, followed by a blast, and then a terrific explosion made Shepard tense. She knew the sound all too well, and therefore braced for what she thought would be their end.

"What happened?" Hackett asked the pilot, who replied quickly.

"A reaper took out the ship that attacked us."

"What's it doing now?" Shepard followed up the answer,

"It’s flying away. They aren't the ones who attacked the frigate, I'm not sure who did ma'am." the pilot said nervously.

The pilot flew them to Earth, as it was the next safest place left in the Sol system. Their conversation soon picked up, taking on a more personal matter,

"How the hell did you manage to blast the hangar door off?" Miranda asked Shepard.

"I don't know, I just felt I could do it, and I did, not sure how really." Georgia said, before resting her head in her hands. Hackett as usual seemed concerned by this.

"We need to find out exactly what you are capable of when we reach Earth" he said sternly, before Shepard could reply, there was a beeping from the shuttle's communication system.

"Answer it" Miranda said nervously, the pilot obliged and the screen flickered to life, showing an all too familiar face.

"Greetings Admiral" Aria T'loak said smugly, "I guess you survived my warning shot, and would hope you take heed, it's time for the criminal underworld to rise, and without Shepard I doubt you will stand a chance." Aria laughed and Shepard, who was still lying on the floor rolled under the screen so she wouldn't be seen.

"I don't understand why you have done this Aria, but you cannot win, we are allied with the Reapers now, you don't stand a chance." Hackett stated boldly.

Aria again laughed "don't worry Admiral, I know about the Reapers and have weapons capable of dealing with them, do remember that I helped you retake Earth, now I will take the galaxy."

She cut off communications before Hackett or Miranda could respond, and Shepard stood up before sitting next to Miranda with an arm around her.

"Well this is an interesting turn of events" Miranda said cheerily.

"I'm not sure I would agree" Hackett replied, "we all know how dangerous and unpredictable Aria can be, and she would have thought of numerous scenarios before making such a move, but what concerns me most is how she knew where you were being treated, it was a closely guarded Alliance secret."

Shepard couldn't help but laugh, "Well we will have the last laugh, and she thinks I'm dead, so we'll give her a surprise when the Normandy leads an attack on Omega." There was another awkward pause, before Miranda asked the question that was hanging before them.

"Where is the Normandy?"

"It has been recovered from a distant system. It was found by a Quarian salvage team, reports indicate it was drifting, completely out of fuel and mostly intact.” Hackett stated. “The reports list only two casualties. The Quarians are bringing it to earth as we speak." Hackett smiled as he saw relief dawn on Shepard's face. "But" he continued, "Resources are still low, so an assault on Omega may not be an option just yet."

Shepard sighed with disappointment, but Miranda suggested something Shepard thought she would never thought she would say,

"Why don't we get Reaper support?" Shepard's reply was instantaneous and fuelled with rage.

"We don't need their help, we can take Omega with just the Normandy, and we wouldn't need backup, though it could help distract Aria."

The rest of the shuttle ride was made in silence, and Shepard took this opportunity to crawl into the storage area and get changed into her dress blues.


	4. The Normandy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Normandy crew reunite

Chapter IV: The Normandy.

The shuttle landed with a jolt, in a small spaceport outside of London. Reconstruction in most major cities prevented smooth landings and take-offs, therefore requiring much of Great Britain's countryside to be used as landing zones for shuttles, ships, frigates and destroyers, including repairs and supply drops for the reconstruction effort.

Shepard stepped out first, followed by Miranda and Hackett, they were greeted by an entourage of military representatives who were eager to see Shepard and Hackett, as Aria's campaign was slowly unfolding. The entourage applauded as Shepard greeted them in a friendly manner; Hackett shook a few hands and led the couple past them to a small bunker, which functioned as a communications array. Inside was a representative of the Alliance Council waiting for them.

As they entered, the representative smiled warmly and shook Hackett and Shepard's hands warmly but passed on shaking Miranda's, which clearly irritated her.

"Greetings to you all" the representative said as he greeted them, "I assume you are all too aware of the recent galactic development?"

Hackett and Shepard replied in unison "we are," before Hackett continued grimly.

"Aria tried to assassinate Shepard and failed, but for matters of security, its best that Shepard's existence is kept a secret until this situation is resolved." The representative looked at Shepard curiously then back at Hackett as he continued. "We have come to earth primarily to check the state of the Normandy, as we require it to retaliate before Aria can seize on our vulnerability, where is it?"

At that moment cheers rang out from outside and Shepard said coolly,

"I think it's here,"

The trio then stepped outside as the Quarian ship carrying the Normandy came into land beside the communications bunker. Shepard smiled to see she was mostly intact, only a few scorch marks and holes in the otherwise spotless exterior. As the Normandy came to rest on the ground, the salvage ship released its magnet and immediately took off again, leaving the Normandy behind, as the shuttle bay door opened slowly.

Shepard rushed forward, dragging Miranda with her; Hackett simply smiled and marched behind them. The commander ran up the ramp to hug the group who were standing in the hangar. Garrus, Liara, Javik, Samantha, Joker, EDI, Chakwas, and Tali were all there and greeted her warmly. She took her time in giving each of them a warm, affectionate hug. The crew greeted her and Miranda warmly, and then each saluted Hackett when he approached.

"It's so good to see you again" Shepard said exasperated as she finished hugging each of them, they smiled happily back at their commander.

"We are relieved to see you again and… oh goddess what happened to your hand" Liara gasped as she spotted the metal left hand. Shepard pulled the sleeve back to reveal the rest of the metal arm before speaking,

"Well let's just say not all of me survived, but Miri here brought me back as best she could" Shepard pulled the sleeve back down and kissed Miranda on the cheek.

"Is anything else missing?" Garrus asked in his usual dry manner, Shepard tapped her knee caps and a low metallic gong sound answered his question. The group looked at their commander with shock, but Miranda relieved them with a simple sentence,

"Don't worry; Shepard's memories, thoughts and personality survived intact, that I can personally attest to".

Before they could delve further into Shepard's recovery, Hackett cut in.

"We need to focus on the current situation, as we speak the Normandy is being refuelled and the hull patched up for a dangerous mission. Aria T'loak has seized upon our weakness, and is expanding her control through invasion. We need the Normandy to head for Omega and prevent Aria's plan from succeeding, are you in?"

His question to the seasoned Normandy crew was answered with a resounding yes.

"We're coming too" a familiar voice said from behind them.

Shepard turned to see the remaining members of the Normandy crew striding up the ramp to meet them, Samara, Jack, Grunt, Wrex, Jacob, Zaeed, and Kasumi joined the group and all stood before Hackett awaiting orders.

"You are all aware of the situation, we can't let Aria win, and we all know what she is capable of and how dangerous she could be if she gains a foothold with any of her criminal gangs. We are unable to lend much support, so you will need to deal the crippling blow and stop her before she can strike again."

Shepard was in awe, Hackett was a tremendous speaker and she could see how his words were inspiring her crew into action.

"Aria doesn't realise that we have the upper hand. She thinks Shepard is dead, and because Shepard has inside knowledge of Omega, which Aria herself taught her you have the element of surprise. Knowing her so well, she’ll be expecting no assault as she knows we are weak, so strike hard and strike fast, and good luck" with that he saluted the group and turned and left without another word.


	5. Personal Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They prepare for the assault on Omega

Chapter V: Personal Preparations.

When Hackett had departed in his shuttle, Shepard ordered the hangar door to close and led the team into the CIC war room. On the way they greeted each other warmly and showed off their respective battle scars from the Battle of Earth. When they reached the war room Shepard loaded up the schematics for Omega as the others gathered round.

"Alright then, I'll give a quick briefing then I need each of you to prepare for a long campaign, Aria always says that she is Omega, she knows every aspect of that space station, and after the Cerberus occupation, she has undoubtedly improved its defences even more."

The others looked on in silence watching the holographic projection of the space station as she pointed out what she knew about the station, but Miranda couldn't help but let her mind and her eyes wander over her girlfriend's body. It was perfect, that’s how she saw it. As she admired it, her eyes drifted down to her thighs and the secret she knew intimately. Shepard smacked Miranda on the ass, which snapped her back to the present as the Normandy crew giggled at this.

"Sorry" Miranda said sheepishly, her cheeks flushing scarlet.

"As I was saying" Shepard continued, "We will undoubtedly be alone on the station, everyone there owes allegiance to Aria, so we can't rely on gathering support, but Garrus, Zaeed, Jack and I have detailed knowledge on each of the four major gangs that call Omega home, so we can use this to our advantage." Shepard tapped a few buttons and the hologram zoomed in on the central region. "Now Afterlife is Aria's throne room, but an all-out assault would be suicide, so we either infiltrate it, or we force Aria into an open confrontation, any suggestions?"

The group took a moment to consider before Garrus replied, "infiltration is out of the question as well, she knows us, we are legends across the galaxy so if we show up at Afterlife after she has declared war on the galaxy, she will smell trouble and likely try to have us killed."

Another pause before Liara piped up, "I could use my broker connections and have us smuggled aboard the station in cargo; from there however I do not know"

Zaeed quickly added to her idea, "I've got an old hangout not far from one of the docking bays, its secluded and heavily fortified, we can use it as a base of operations once inside."

There was yet another pause before EDI spoke, "then it seems we have the beginnings of a plan, we will be smuggled in by Liara's contacts and delivered to Zaeed's statehouse, from there you can work on crippling T'loak's forces."

Shepard smiled, "that's why we are legends. We know how to get the job done. Alright, everyone prepare for the incursion, bring plenty of supplies and ammunition, and get some rest, because we will need it. Liara have your contacts pick up the crates with us in from Luna, we'll shuttle there in the morning." Liara nodded and activated her omnitool.

"Traynor, Chakwas, and Joker will stay behind to protect the Normandy, I have a feeling Aria will want it as a trophy, everyone dismissed." Shepard said and she grabbed Miranda by the hips and forcefully dragged her all the way to her quarters. Miranda didn't put up a fight as she wanted what Shepard wanted which was long overdue.

When they got there Shepard locked the door behind them and commanded EDI to disable all monitoring equipment in her quarters and not to disturb them.

The couple unleashed themselves upon the other, lips crashing together and tongues locking in their extremely passionate kiss, whilst their hands busied themselves with undressing the other. Shepard's cold metal hand brushed against Miranda's right nipple, making her shiver and the nipple stiffen. She chuckled and Shepard broke off their kiss to pay attention to the nipple, gently sucking on it whilst her right hand gently massaged the other breast. Miranda groaned softly and played with her Georgia’s shoulder length black hair, which was much like her own. When they were both fully undressed Shepard summoned her biotics and flung Miranda on to the bed, before diving between her legs and gently stroking her inner thigh, and toying with Miranda by circling her rapidly dampening heat.

Shepard looked up and saw the bliss on Miranda's face, as she was biting her lip and gently squeezing her own breasts.

"My, aren't you horny," Shepard said slowly, as she slid a finger over her girlfriend’s clitoris, eliciting a loud groan from Miranda. "And oh so wet!" she added before she plunged her index finger into her Miranda, followed quickly by her middle finger.

Miranda groaned louder and Shepard felt her tighten as she began to gently rub the sensitive walls, gently increasing pressure on the clit, where she knew she was most sensitive. Miranda writhed and clasped at the silken bed sheets, as she felt herself quickly nearing an explosive climax. Shepard always knew how to get her off, and she didn't disappoint as she came hard over Shepard's hand, her juices flowing down her arm, as Miranda lay quivering on the bed sheets.

"Wow, you had a fair bit of sexual build up when I was in hospital. That better not be all of it" Shepard said, a note of humour faint in her tone.

Shepard withdrew her hand and licked Miranda's juices off her arm, but let Miranda taste the juices that were on her fingers. Shepard held Miranda's legs apart as she went in and gently began licking her dripping wet sex and sucking on Miranda's clitoris. Miranda again writhed around on the bed and groaned loudly as the sensations crashed over her, like waves on a beach. Shepard chuckled into her clitoris and whilst still performing cunnilingus, flipped herself around so her erect cock was over Miranda's mouth.

Miranda took a moment to marvel at her girlfriend's slightly enlarged cock that dangled inches from her mouth, before placing her hands on Shepard's ass and lowering it into her mouth. As she slid it in, her hands shifted to Shepard's sex which was slightly wet. While she sucked on her girlfriend's cock, she gently fingered and stroked her sex, doubling the pleasure for the one she loved. Both women groaned with the pleasure that the other was providing and it wasn't long before Miranda climaxed again, followed swiftly by a smaller climax from Shepard's pussy, the essence from which trickled down her cock and into Miranda's mouth.

Shepard withdrew her cock from her girlfriend's mouth and turned around before engaged her girlfriend in a passionate kiss, tasting both hers and Miranda's juices on their lips. Her free hand positioned her cock over Miranda's now soaked pussy.

"Ready?" Shepard asked breathlessly to Miranda who smiled and nodded.

She slowly pushed her cock into Miranda, who groaned in pleasure as it spread her walls and rubbed against her tender spot, causing a small dribble of her juices to leak out. Shepard giggled at this as she hilted herself in her, before gently thrusting against Miranda's hips. She groaned even louder and dug her fingers into Shepard's back, leaving red marks when she moved her hands down to her hips.

Shepard increased her speed slowly. As she did, she pressed her ample breasts against Miranda's, both sets bouncing in time with her thrusts. Before she could make another witty remark, Miranda locked her li[s in another passionate kiss, their tongues rolling around, stifling their groans of pleasure. As Shepard felt herself nearing her climax she increased her pace, which made Miranda's cervix tighten, meaning she was nearing as well.

"Let's finish together" Miranda said breathlessly between groans.

She wrapped her arms around Shepard's back, pulling them closer together as they both climaxed in unison. Their juices merged inside her womb, and when Shepard removed her cock, the combined fluids trickled from her nether lips. The pair, now exhausted from their activities, quickly succumbed to sleep, neglecting to pull the bed sheet over them.


	6. Omaha Omega

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew infiltrate Aria's stronghold

Chapter VI: Omaha Omega.

The next day Shepard woke first and quickly roused the rest of the crew, who had slept in random places across the ship, including Wrex and Grunt sleeping in the lift, they proved the most difficult to wake. It wasn't until Shepard suggested reintroducing the genophage that the two Krogan sprang into action, with anger at the very idea of bringing back the genophage brimming inside them.

After she had woken the crew they gathered in the shuttle bay, where Cortez was waiting for them with two shuttles prepped to take them to the moon. From there Liara's contact would smuggle them to Omega.

Each crew member had a small crate full of ammunition and tech they could use to help the mission. Shepard donned her new N7 armour which was white and black with gold etching, Miranda also donned a matching set of armour to signify their relationship. As they were shuttled to the rendezvous site on the Moon, Shepard summarised the plan

"We all know the current plan, everyone except Zaeed will be smuggled on to Omega in the crates, and he will accompany the crates to reduce suspicion. Any scans will hide the crates contain us, instead it'll read as credits and weapons, and the cover story is Zaeed is returning with his rewards for fighting in the Reaper war".

As the shuttle landed on the moon, Zaeed smiled and flexed his arms.

"Be glad I'm not being stowed away with you, I'm not the most flexible, and prone to fidget" he said smiling as she stepped off the shuttle and leant on the side of an open crate.

The others looked at the storage crate that stood before them, and slowly filed inside. Shepard was last to enter, she took a look at Earth floating in space before her, with the 1969 moon landing site in the foreground. She thought to herself about how far humanity had come, a whisper in her mind added _and how much further I will lead humanity_. She banished her final thought as she stepped inside and embraced Miranda to take up less space in the cramped crate.

Zaeed closed the crate behind them and the inhabitants sat down as it shuddered and began moving on to the smuggler's ship.

"Good luck everyone, keep chatter to a minimum till we reach Zaeed's safe house" Shepard said as they felt the smuggler's ship take off.

Hours passed in silence, and many of them fell asleep, only to be woken not long after by Zaeed opening the crate inside his safe house.

"Wake up assholes, we're here. No one is any the wiser about this, they believed my story, not like they could investigate since Omega is technically at war with the Council races."

The crew stretched and stepped out of the crate, and looked around at the large safe house that Zaeed owned. To Shepard's eyes it was a lot larger than any of the other Omega apartments that she had seen, undoubtedly due to his infamous reputation as a ruthless bastard or badass, dependant on which side of him you encountered.

The two floor apartment was vast, spacious and very basic; and Zaeed was clearly not into housekeeping as it was also very dirty and untidy. The crew spread out and unpacked their supply crates against the windows, and in any available space, as well as sleeping mats in preparation for the mission's potential longevity.

"Well that's stage one complete successfully" Miranda said cheerfully, "two more to go."

Shepard added, "okay everyone listen up, from now on this is our base of operations, and we keep radio communication to a minimum, and make no external communication to avoid any detection. Kasumi, we will need you to scout out targets and report back on updates in the station, as you can pass unnoticed easily."

Kasumi nodded, vanished and moments later the door opened and closed before locking behind her.

"Now then Zaeed, Garrus; do either of you know where any of the gang's bases are, we need to cripple them as soon as possible, so we can focus on Aria herself." The two renegades shook their heads. "Looks like it's up to Kasumi to find out for us, but that doesn't mean we can't weaken Omega's defences so we can get additional support if necessary and…"

Zaeed butted in, "I've got a few spare suits of armour if people want to venture out, we can't all stay here, and I've even got some old Krogan and Turian gang armour."

The group gathered around a large table as Tali unboxed a compact holographic projector, and laid it at the center of the table. It flickered into life as Zaeed dimmed the lights. The projection showed a schematic display of Omega bathed in a red light, with Zaeed's safe house appearing as a blue block near the base.

"EDI, what can you tell us about the current state of affairs in Omega" Samara asked the AI, who responded quickly.

"From what I can safely gather, Omega is still recovering from the Cerberus occupation in some areas, but the outer defences and internal layout is much the same as it has been since you helped dethrone Petrovsky."

A familiar silence returned before Jacob spoke up. "Is there any conflict between any of the four gangs?"

EDI shook her head, "Aria has full control of all four groups and ensures no conflict between them" she replied grimly.

"Is there one gang that is stronger than the others?" Jack asked, with a plan clearly etched in her mind.

"Yes, since the occupation, the Talons have become the top gang in Omega's criminal activities, accounting for roughly thirty five percent of all criminal activity on the station, as well as acting as the station's security force." EDI replied, and Shepard looked quizzically at the ex-convict.

"What's your plan Jack?" she asked curiously.

"We take out the Talons and leave the Eclipse, Blue Suns and Blood Pack to fight over the remains, meaning we can take out Aria quicker" she replied, a glint of mischief in her eyes.

"Excellent idea" Zaeed said patting Jack on the back, who didn't brush him off. "We just need to find their base of operations and then we can strike hard and fast, I assume Shepard you know where it is?"

Shepard smiled and tapped a few buttons on her omni-tool and the hologram shifted to show the vast web of tunnels and secret passages that covered Omega, before a section of the map began to glow white, highlighting the location of the Talon base which Shepard had visited during the occupation.

The atmosphere in the safe house now buzzed with excitement, they had a target, a means of getting to it, and the bare bones of a conclusive plan.

"Alright, Garrus and Grunt scout out the tunnels between here and the base, whilst the rest of you prepare demolition equipment for the assault, we will decapitate the Talons leaving them leaderless, and then prepare for the final assault on Afterlife. Dismissed!"

As the others dispersed to their assigned duties, Miranda noticed a flash of red in Shepard's eyes but she ignored it, thinking it a trick of the lights.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That evening, after Garrus and Grunt had returned, they reported the route to the Talon base was clear and seemingly unguarded. Following this news, everyone settled down to sleep, with Shepard and Miranda forcing Zaeed to relinquish the main bedroom to them, who begrudgingly allowed it.

Once inside, Miranda wheeled on Shepard who had ripped off Miranda's armour.

"Shepard, I must ask, how did you survive? I mean falling through earth's atmosphere or being at the heart of the Citadel's explosion on alone should have killed you, but you survived both events, how are you still here?"

Shepard paused for a moment before she replied whilst taking off her own armour "I don't know, all I remember was opening the Citadel arms for the Crucible, then a flash of green, between those events it is just a blank gap, but enough talk I'm feeling horny."

Miranda sighed and embraced the now naked Shepard in a kiss.

Before Miranda could kneel down to caress Shepard's member, she was lifted up by her biotics and flung on to the bed. Georgia pounced on top of her, and lined herself up with Miranda's moist heat, before forcing her cock inside, eliciting a groan of pleasure from Miranda.

"No foreplay?" Miranda gasped playfully as Shepard began thrusting against her hips.

"Too impatient, this is better" she replied, Miranda smiled for a moment but the smile faded when she spotted the flash of red in her lover's eyes again. She was on the verge of saying something when the sensations from Shepard's thrusts began building inside her, making her climax hard against the commander's thrusting hips.

When the commander finally came inside Miranda, she collapsed on top of her and drifted into sleep immediately. Miranda chuckled softly and gently rolled Shepard on to the bed beside her.

In the artificial darkness of Omega, Miranda's mind flashed back to seeing the glow of red in Shepard's eyes, she knew it couldn't be good, but she was afraid to mention it to her girlfriend, afraid of her taking it badly. Because of these worries Miranda slept very little that night, made worse by stomach pains that hit her like a freight train. She resisted screaming out in anguish, knowing that everyone needed to sleep for the upcoming assault.


	7. Declawing the Talons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shepard leads the assault on the Talons

Chapter VII: Declawing the Talons.

The next day dawned with everyone up and ready early, all prepared for the assault.

"We all know the plan, storm in, kill the leadership of the gang, grab any intel we can get and flee before they summon reinforcements" Shepard said in her authoritative voice. "Jack, Samara, Jacob and Wrex will strike here, as team Red Sand," she pointed at the middle tier of the Talon base.

"Liara, Kasumi, Ashley and Grunt will focus here and cut off communications and power, you'll be team Adjutant" Shepard indicated the base level of the base.

"That leaves myself, Garrus, Zaeed and Miranda to take out the leadership here, as team Patriarch" pointing at the top of the base on the hologram. "Tali, EDI, and Javik will remain behind, primarily because a Prothean, a Quarian and an AI are a bit unusual on Omega, and will blow our cover, and before you ask, team names were randomly picked from my memory of Omega."

Shepard beamed at her crew. The last three didn't seem surprised at their commander's reasoning and sat down in the apartment, as Miranda stumbled out of the bathroom looking incredibly pale.

"Hey sexy, we're heading out soon, you're with me, Garrus and Zaeed, suit up," Shepard said over her shoulder making sure everything was set with the group in front of her.

"I'm sorry honey, I don't think I'll be capable of assisting you, I really don't feel well, I'm going to sit this mission out." Miranda said feebly. Shepard sighed and walked over and kissed Miranda on the forehead before turning to EDI.

"Think you can suit up in Miranda's armour?" she asked the AI, who nodded and walked over to the armour which was lying on the floor beside Shepard.

Minutes later they exited the safe house through an escape route that lead into the tunnels, and began to split up to assault the base at the predetermined locations, their armor had been decaled with motifs of the other three gangs, as a means of further causing civil war on Omega.

Miranda walked slowly over to the sofa and lay down on it, Tali rushed over and began scanning her, "Keelah what's wrong?" she asked nervously, Javik shrugged and walked over to the far corner, sat down and began meditating, muttering under his breath,

"primitives."

On cue, the talon base exploded with noise as three explosions rocked everyone inside and disorientated the guards. Shepard's squads rushed in and began gunning down any armed gang members, before they could return fire.

In the basement team Adjutant began blasting the boxes that supplied power to the bases communications and defences, Grunt even charging through several electrical boxes in a fit of blind rage. Team Red Sand quickly sealed the entrances and exits to the base, cutting off escape, and slowing any attempts for reinforcements to arrive quickly. Shepard lead team Patriarch to where she felt the Talon leaders would be.

Inside a small command room they surrounded three confused Turians and held them at gun point.

"Nobody try anything stupid, hands away from the controls and any silent alarms, not that they would help" Zaeed's distorted voice said, a note of enjoyment in his voice.

"You fools!" one of the Turians said coldly, "Aria will punish all three of your gangs for this! You're wrecking her plans for expanding her territory. Who put you up to this?" he continued, "was it the Alli…" Shepard shot him before he could finish his sentence.

"We're doing this for fun, you Talons have gotten too big for your boots and we decided to shove you down to where you belong" Shepard said in her also distorted voice. Garrus laughed as the two remaining talons looked confused.

"You actually decided to team up again?" one of them said perplexed.

"We did it for Archangel, we did it here, now goodbye." Garrus said as he shot the remaining leaders through the head, EDI walked over to the main terminal and began covertly downloading all the Talon files.

"Anything useful EDI?" Shepard asked as she carved the Eclipse, Blood Pack and Blue Suns logos into the walls of the command room.

"I have found that after the death of Nyreen Kandros, Aria took control of the Talons, these Turians were her lieutenants." Shepard cursed.

"We got any trouble headed our way?" Zaeed asked looking at the screens showing different parts of the Talon base.

"Affirmative" EDI replied, "Talon forces are converging on the base from all directions, I suggest we leave immediately."

Shepard hurried them out of the room, throwing an incendiary on to the corpses and closing the door behind her.

"Red Sand, Adjutant, retreat, mission failed, I repeat mission failed, meet at the hangar" Shepard radioed to the other groups as they fled into the tunnels.

When they got back to the safe house, they found everyone else there waiting for them, looking exhausted and confused. Shepard sealed the exit behind her and removed her helmet.

"Well done team, the Talons have lost their lieutenants, and they will think the other gangs are responsible" she said beaming at the others.

"Why then did you radio saying the mission had failed, and we were to report to the hangar?" Jack asked, her biotics flaring.

"To make Aria paranoid that the gangs were performing a hit and run, it should mean she'll think we are no longer on the station, and we sort of did fail, the talon's leader is Aria herself, we only got her lieutenants." Shepard replied and loaded up the map of Omega as Zaeed flicked on the vid-screen.

"Breaking News on Omega" the news presenter said, "a bold attack by the Eclipse, Blue Suns and Blood Pack has destroyed the Talon's main base of operations, killing the organisation's lieutenants. Aria T'loak is reportedly furious at the gangs' blatant breaking of the alliance."

With that the group cheered and Shepard quickly got their attention and muted the news program.

"Okay, stage two complete, EDI any changes regarding Afterlife?" the AI took a moment to search before speaking, "Aria has increased security outside the nightclub, and has executed the leaders of the other gangs, who couldn't account for the attack on the Talons, who are completely disorganized " Again a cheer went up but was quickly hushed by Shepard.

"Alright then" Shepard tapped her omni-tool and the map of Omega shifted to show the schematics of Afterlife, "EDI, did any of the information from the Talon computer indicate what defences are in place around Aria's throne room?" EDI shook her head in response, Shepard pondered for a moment before speaking, "Right then, I won't risk an open assault, I'll go alone and confront Aria personally."

The crew looked worried and quickly voiced their objections, Shepard raised a hand.

"I have a plan! Kasumi, give me your stealth suit, I'll sneak inside through the tunnels and blend in with the masses inside, form there I'll make things up as I go, depending on what it's like in there."

Kasumi followed Shepard into the main bedroom, where Miranda was sitting up in bed, some of the colour had returned to her face.

She seemed shocked when Kasumi and Shepard began undressing in front of her, Kasumi froze when she saw her commander's large erect cock, but finished taking off her suit and handed it to Shepard. Who was she to question the commander's strange features, she kept her face hidden, so why couldn't Shepard keep secret that addition, who handed her a simple set of her own casual clothes, before she put on Kasumi's suit.

Strangely, the suit fitted her comfortably, despite Shepard being far more well-built than the thief, and considering the anatomical difference between the two. Miranda giggled at the sight and Shepard signalled for Kasumi to leave as she finished putting on the loose trousers and hooded jumper, Shepard then strode round to the side of the bed where Miranda was and caressed her long black hair.

Miranda leaned towards her lover and undid the belt and pulled down the suit's trousers, and Shepard's underwear, gently stroking the erect member.

"Does the mere sight of me make you happy?" Miranda said softly as she kissed the head, Shepard smiled and said in an equally tender voice.

"Must be a sign we were meant for each other, but I'm going to face Aria alone, care to wish me luck." Miranda smiled and slowly wrapped her lips around Shepard's member, sliding it to the back of her throat, to the point where it made her gag, before retreating to the head, flicking the tip with her tongue.

She was about to continue giving head to her girlfriend, but a nauseating wave crashed over her and she vomited on the floor and lay back in bed, returning to her previously pale state, Shepard growled angrily, zipped the trousers up again and stormed out, Miranda felt guilty, it wasn't Shepard's fault she had thrown up, she didn't know what had come over her.


	8. Steel Versus Leather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shepard Versus Aria

Chapter VIII: Steel Versus Leather.

Shepard's anger at Miranda, meant she ordered Kasumi to give her a quick tutorial in the stealth and hacking technology she used, before she left the safe house through the secret escape and made her way to Afterlife, fuming in anger. When she got close to the nightclub, she activated the stealth field and crept out of the tunnels, into an all too familiar market, adjacent to the night club.

She cautiously slipped through the crowds, trying hard not to brush up against anyone and blow her cover, whilst hacking terminals as she past, siphoning off money and information; she could understand why Kasumi enjoyed this so much. When she came to the lower entrance to the nightclub, she slipped past the guards by following closely behind a group of revellers.

Once inside she took in the sight that lay before her. Afterlife still had traces of the Cerberus occupation, scorch marks and graffitied Cerberus logos covered every wall, and the lighting was very invasive, clearly trying to cover up the "general's stink" as Aria had once put it.

Once through the crowds on the lower level, she slunk up the back staircase, past a Batarian she recognized as Anto, one of Aria's guards, and followed him past another security checkpoint and into the main floor of the nightclub, but the sight that greeted her was not the nightclub she remembered.

The room was still as Cerberus had left it, but with garish lights and richly decorated fabrics covering the walls where there had been Cerberus decals. The center of the room, where the General had once trapped Aria in a stasis field, now showed a large galaxy map, with holographic pirate ships moving against numerous unguarded systems, again Shepard had a flashback to the Reaper war, where the CIC map showed the reapers following a similar move.

She walked carefully round the edge of the criminal strategists, listening to snippets of conversation, whilst scanning the room for the queen.

"With Shepard out of the way, the Council doesn't stand a chance, and the Reapers are not a concern." a familiar voice said from above her.

She spun round and looked up to see Aria pacing along the upper gantry toward her throne room, she was wearing the usual white leather jacket, but Shepard's eyes focused on a recent addition, on Aria's left arm was a purple arm band with a circular capital 'A', on top of a capital 'T', similar to the Talon logo, encased in a white circle. The symbol clearly demonstrated Aria T'loak as Omega because the 'A' and the 'T' combined looked very much like an outline of the station, but the design had a chilling similarity.

She remembered old vids that showed an old fascist regime from Earth's history, the Nazi symbol was very much like the symbol Aria was now wearing, Shepard looked again around the room and saw the same symbol emblazoned on the walls and on several people's arms. Her anger exploded inside her and she made to close in on Aria, but Aria now addressed her followers.

"Attention my faithful followers, as you have undoubtedly heard, the Talons have fallen into disarray after a recent assault by people disguised in Omega gang outfits. But fear not, I have personal assurances from the new heads of the other gangs, that they are loyal to me, so we can press ahead with our plan. Begin Operation Shepard!" Aria finished her speech, giggled and walked into her command center unescorted.

Shepard's rage peaked, the cheek of her to name the operation after her was the final straw, she sped along the gantry, and slipped inside Aria's throne room as the door sealed behind her and Shepard locked it and encrypted the code to unlock it.

"Honestly Ms Goto, I should have expected you would sneak in, but I'm afraid you can't stop me now, especially without Shepard to lead you." Aria's smug smile was wiped from her face as she turned to see Shepard stood in front of her and switched off the stealth field.

"Hello Aria" Shepard said coldly before she hit her across the face with her biotics-charged left hand, causing Aria to fly sideways into a wall, and crumple to the floor.

But she recovered quickly and channelled her biotics and flung an energy wall at the Commander who side stepped it and activated her Tech Armour as an added layer of defence.

"You survived!?" Aria barked at Shepard who smiled and slowly began gathering biotic energy into her right hand behind her back.

"I got off the ship safely before your attack ship was ripped to pieces by a patrolling Reaper," Shepard remarked serenely before flinging the charged biotic energy at Aria, catching her off guard and again flinging her into the wall.

Before she could recover Shepard charged over and pinned her in a half nelson, and lifted her up, taking her over to the desk.

"Tell your forces to stand down and surrender, your dreams for conquest are over, so tell your forces to stop their assault now." Despite her disadvantageous position, Aria kept her composure.

"Make me," she said in her usual dry manner, but Shepard was not in a mood to be trifled with, and she silently thanked Aria's preference for privacy that the shutters were down as she held Aria's wrists with her left hand and used her right to rip aria's trousers off.

Aria growled playfully at this turn of events, Shepard then ripped the infuriating armband off, then her leather jacket, the commander then switched hands and smacked her metal hand hard against the pirate queen's ass cheek, for the first time Shepard heard her cry out in pain.

"What's that bitch, can't handle it rough?" Shepard said mocking Aria's pain.

"There's sexual rough and actual rough" Aria said with gritted teeth as Shepard landed a few more smacks with her metal hand, leaving vicious brown marks on the purple skinned Asari.

Shepard suddenly stopped spanking her captive and flung her across the room on to Aria's couch, and quickly prevented her from mustering a retaliation, pinning her down on the sofa and plunging her fingers into Aria's heat, fingering her hard and fast.

Aria writhed under Shepard's iron grasp, her biotics flaring as she was drowned in pleasure from the Commander's forceful and fast fingering against her sensitive clitoris. When she climaxed, she came harder than ever before, and almost passed out as the energy of her climax left her almost completely drained, Shepard laughed dryly.

"Not so tough now are you" she said as she now gently caressed Aria's damp folds, "but I'm not done yet, I will make you submit and surrender to me!"

If Aria had been looking into Shepard's face she would have seen the red flash, as Shepard slid out of Kasumi's cat suit, and gently stroked her erect cock, Aria desperately gasped, trying to get air into her lungs, and energy into her limbs. When she finally managed to get some energy into her body, she spotted the erect cock between Shepard's legs.

"No wonder you're so cocksure, you're a…" Shepard forced her cock into Aria's mouth till she gagged.

"I'm a hermaphrodite, and am not in a good mood, so suck it bitch!" Shepard said finishing Aria's sentence, and continuing to force Aria to deep throat her cock.

Listening to Aria gagging every so often on it made Shepard feel good, and allowed her to dispel some of the anger she had felt towards sweet little Miranda, but she wasn't done with the bitch yet. She took her cock out of Aria's mouth, watching the usually formidable queen of Omega cough and splutter, and roll over on to her front, Shepard seized the moment, and held Aria's hips down against the couch, and lined her cock up with Aria's evidentially tight rear.

Without warning Shepard forced her tip into Aria's tight ass, breaking any resistance on impact, Aria flinched and screamed into the couch, as she hadn't expected Shepard to go for her ass, and its girth meant she felt like it would tear her tight ass apart.

"No wonder you were always such a tight arse" Shepard remarked coldly as she hilted herself inside Aria's rear, the Asari growled angrily but any reply was cut off when the Commander began forcefully began pounding her into the couch. Aria's screams were muffled in the soft leather of the couch, her knuckles almost white as she gripped on to her 'throne' for dear life, as Shepard pounded hard against her already bruised ass cheeks, her large member pumping deep inside her.

The ecstasy of the pounding caused Aria to come again, equally as explosive as the last, her juices flowing and pooling on the sofa, Shepard laughed, and increased her speed, Aria could tell she was close to cumming inside her ass.

"Tell me you want it bitch?" Shepard growled at Aria who groaned angrily.

"Just finish it will you" she replied.

She felt the commander tense, as she filed her ass with hot sticky cum. The commander withdrew her cock from Aria's rear, and it spurted more cum over her ass cheeks, to which Shepard giggled.

"You happy now?" Aria said with indignation, Shepard's reply was to flip her on to her back and line her still erect cock up with Aria's damp slit.

"Not till you fully submit to me!" Shepard growled as she slid her cock deep inside Aria.

_*Writer's Notes*_

_\- I apologise to anyone offended by the Nazi allusions, but I felt it the best relation to the idea i had, and it helps show how far across the line Aria would go, if she had the opportunity._

_\- Yes its domination, lightened slightly by bad puns, but i really couldn't resist._


	9. A Less Subtle Approach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew follow in Shepard's wake

Chapter IX: A Less Subtle Approach.

_-At Zaeed's safe house shortly after Shepard's departure-_

"Well, that was… interesting" Garrus said slowly, after several minutes of silence following Shepard's infuriated departure, the others silently nodded in agreement before Miranda stumbled out of the main bedroom clutching her stomach.

"Keelah, I thought you were feeling better, what's wrong?" Tali asked as she rushed to help Miranda to a nearby chair, Samara quickly followed as well.

"Embrace eternity" Samara muttered with her fingers on either side of Miranda's temple, but quickly retracted her fingers and clutched her own stomach, as if afflicted by the same malady. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure what to say, it felt like my abdomen was shifting, changing, it was not a pleasant experience," Samara said slowly, standing up and regaining her composure, "you're insides are changing, not sure how, or why, but it's not something I have ever heard of before" she finished slowly.

Before Liara stepped in and melded with Miranda. Liara clearly suffered similar feelings as Samara had done, but endured the pain, to try and identify the problem, "I can't identify what is wrong exactly, but it's something to do with your womb. I can't get any more information on what is causing your pain Miranda" Liara said as she ended the link.

"Then shouldn't we focus on the missing Commander, and the inherent danger of her potentially being captured" Javik said sounding bored.

"The Prothean is right!" Grunt said standing up from the floor.

"Well then let's go save her, for all the times she saved us" Zaeed said as he picked up his rifle. Zaeed left, followed quickly by most of the crew, leaving Tali, Samara, Jacob, EDI, and Liara, whose attention was focused on Miranda.

They were focused on finding out exactly what was wrong with her womb that was causing such a crippling illness, whilst Zaeed and Jack lead the 'rescue' force through the tunnels to Afterlife, Garrus and Wrex silencing any rogue gang members that came close to spotting them.

"Tali, I am unable to access any data on matching symptoms that correlate with these identified problems, I'm afraid I do not have the medical knowledge to further investigate this problem" EDI said finally, there was a pause, before she continued, "shall I send a message to the Normandy, Doctors Chakwas and Michel may have the knowledge we need."

"No it's too risky, we need to disable or reprogram the outer defences, so the Normandy won't be targeted upon entering the system" Samara replied calmly, remembering Shepard's description of her previous assault on Omega with Aria.

"Good idea! And we could hold up in Aria's private hangar, allowing for a defensible position on the exterior of Omega" Liara added to Samara's idea.

The group silently agreed but a groan from Miranda brought their plans back down to the station.

"Lieutenant, can you fight?" Jacob asked his former XO; Miranda grunted and stood up.

"I'll fight as best I can, that good enough?" she replied cocking her pistol and placing it in her holster. Samara smiled and lead the second group through the secret exit, heading in the opposite direction to their previous excursion, following EDI's directions to the outer defence control station, when they got there, the AI reprogrammed the defence systems to not register the Normandy's presence, before quickly heading back into the tunnels to capture Aria's private hangar, for the Normandy's arrival.

Jack smiled as she laid eyes upon a fortified entrance to Afterlife, heavily armed mercenaries standing guard, where once there had been an Elcor bouncer, the rest of the 'rescue' squad stepped out of the docking entrance that the Normandy had used.

Before the guards could react, Wrex and Grunt had charged their position and knocked out the unprepared mercenaries, leaving the area in front of the nightclub empty, Garrus stepped up to the door and planted several explosives around the edges, primed them then took three steps away and turned to face the others as the charges exploded and ripped the door to shreds, killing a few more hapless mercenaries who had been standing on the other side.

The group then charged up the long entrance corridor, expecting heavy resistance on the other side, they waited and took a moment in the corridor, catching their breath, and mentally preparing for one hell of a fight to get to Shepard.

The door slid opened and they charged in weapons drawn, spreading out to cover every corner and blind spot. But they met no resistance, and found their Commander safe and sound, sitting at the former bar, sipping on a vivid blue liquor, she smiled at them and beckoned them over to her merrily, as they holstered their weapons and stood around her, looking confused.

"Where are all the bad guys?" Jack asked, a clear note of disappointment in her voice.

"gone" Shepard replied, necking another glass of alcohol, "they left whilst I was 'interogatting' Aria, they have begun what they are calling Operation Shepard." The commander laughed and refilled her glass and quickly emptied it.

"What about Aria?" Samara asked curious as to the pirate queen's location, Shepard nodded her head towards a nearby stripper pole, to which Aria was hand-cuffed, sprawled next to, her clothes in shreds and drool seeping from her lips.

"I managed to get her to submit to me" Shepard said confidentially, as she stood up walked over to her captive and gave her a sharp kick, Aria mumbled incoherent nonsense, and curled into the foetal position around the pole, her crew mates looked at the commander in amazement.

"How did you break Aria?" Jack and Zaeed asked in unison.

"Just showed her a more personal touch, she folded pretty quickly. Now where's our exit plan?" the commander said as she shifted Aria's shackle from the pole to Shepard's wrist. Wrex activated his omni-tool and called EDI.

"We got Shepard, and Aria, where's the Normandy?" he said when the AI answered.

"It's on route, we have moved from the safe house to Aria's hangar, and would suggest you hurry, enemy forces are closing in on our location, and we won't hold out for long" she replied.

Shepard slung Aria over her shoulder and lead her crew out of the night club, no gang member they encountered dared fire at them with Aria on Shepard's shoulder, but Grunt, Wrex and Ashley quite happily shot them without concern.

They reached the hangar in record time, with Shepard guiding them through the tunnels, Aria muttering and moaning every so often, every occasion was just more incoherent nonsense. When they got to the hangar, they found the Normandy waiting for them.

Shepard smile as she laid eyes on her fully repaired and renovated ship, now with a the name "Normandy SR-3" the crew ran up the boarding ramp and into the ship, where Joker, Chakwas, Michel and Addams were waiting for them, along with the other crew members, they all saluted as Shepard stopped in front of them.

 


	10. Calm Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew depart Omega in the new Normandy

Chapter X: Calm before the Storm.

"Good to see the Normandy back to her old self" Garrus said as he looked around the relatively familiar settings, "though I see you have made some upgrades, care to explain what makes the SR-3 better than the SR-2?"

"Wait! before we get into that, Wrex, Grunt, take our guest to the cargo bay and lock her up, also could you two look after Miranda, something is wrong, and I'd like to know what" Shepard said as she nudged Miranda towards Chakwas and Michel, who had signed up when the Normandy landed on Earth. Wrex and Grunt carelessly carried the still weak Aria towards the lift, followed by Chakwas, Michel and Miranda.

"Now what about these upgrades, what has been done to my ship?" Shepard asked turning back to the pilot and communications specialist.

"Well from what I've been told," Joker replied, "the armour and weapons are now Reaper strength, literally, and they've improved the engines, fuel storage and power supply, basically its equal only to the Reapers, in everything except the indoctrination stuff, but then people want to follow the great Commander Shepard."

The final statement from Joker caused a smattering of chuckles from the still gathered crew members.

"I'm not sure indoctrination is something to be laughed at" Javik said coldly, he was the only one who hadn't laughed; Shepard sighed and looked at Traynor, expecting her report as well.

"Well I err…" Samantha said, visibly shrinking under everyone's gaze, "including what Joker said, the technology has also been improved to near Reaper strength capabilities, the QEC system is now so powerful it can't be blocked by any signal jammer, natural or artificial, basically we will never be isolated from command, apart from that, the interior is relatively the same, though the war room and security area has been repurposed for an on-board firing range, capable of withstanding biotic, tech and all non-nuclear personnel weapons." Garrus and Jack couldn't contain their excitement and rushed off to try it, "and what was once the armoury when it was a Cerberus ship, has been converted into accommodation for our extra crew members" Samantha said finalising the debriefing on the SR-3.

"Thanks for the update, everyone dismissed, I've got to contact Hackett and give him an update, I'll check up on the others afterwards" Shepard said, impatiently marching towards the CIC, quickly followed by the rest of the crew.

Shepard watched Garrus and Jack destroying dummy after dummy as she passed through the firing range, to the QEC, which she was happy to find hadn't been moved. As she entered, Hackett's holographic form appeared before her, clearly Traynor had made the call for her.

"Shepard" he said in his usual tone, "what's the status of Aria's campaign?" Shepard stared solemnly at the Admiral. "I understand did you at least weaken their forces?" he said in reply to Shepard's stare.

"We successfully spread chaos amongst the Talons, but that only really weakens Omega, not the fleets that were under Aria's control" Shepard's report to the Admiral caused him to raise an eyebrow.

"Were?" he said, confused by the Commander's choice of words.

"I captured Aria, but whilst forcing her to submit, her minions left before we could catch them, they are now uncontrolled by Aria, and we don't know who has taken her place." Shepard reported, and she was clearly proud of her achievement.

"And where is Aria now?" Hackett said, still with an eyebrow raised.

"Weakened and imprisoned on board the Normandy, she's being watched don't worry" the commander stated before Hackett could object. Hackett gave her a stern look before speaking.

"Alright, I'll send word to all fleets to gather together again, do we have any idea where they will strike?" Shepard was about to speak before a familiar voice spoke up from behind her.

"I might have information for you, but you won't like it." Aria stood in the entrance, fully recovered, but still in her torn clothes, now Shepard raised an eyebrow, "what, you didn't really think two Krogan could hold me, please, remember who you're dealing with." Aria smiled wickedly and stepped forward, so Hackett could see who had spoken.

"Ms T'loak, if you have information on this threat I suggest you speak now" Hackett said, his eyes trying to read the expression on Aria's face, which remained icily composed.

"Well normally information from me would cost a great deal, but after your Commander 'interrogated' me, I will give it to you more willingly, but I don't want to be imprisoned whilst you destroy the traitors, I…" Aria paused and Shepard could tell she was in an uncomfortable position, "I want to join Shepard's crew, consider it a means for me to make right by Shepard." Shepard burst out laughing at the idea.

"Aria T'loak? Wanting to do right by me? I'll believe it when I see it, there must be more to this offer than…" Shepard's gloat was interrupted by Hackett.

"That'll be enough Commander, we are still recovering from the Reaper war and we could use any help we can get; besides unsavoury companions like Ms T'loak seem to make up most of your crew." The commander fell silent, "now Ms T'loak, you must understand I cannot risk you running free aboard the most advanced warship in the galaxy, but neither can I turn down an offer of your inside information, a compromise must be found." Hackett said, "Might I suggest some form of control device be placed on Ms T'loak, to keep her under Shepard's command." A smile crept across the pirate queen's face, and she shot a glance sideways at Shepard.

"Me as the commander's bitch, I'll agree to that" Aria said, an edge of enjoyment in her voice, Shepard clenched her fist out of sight of the other two, before regaining her composure and speaking.

"I believe my XO knows of such a device, I'll speak to her after this, and we'll implement it as soon as possible, for now what are your orders?" Hackett raised his eyebrow at Shepard again, and smiled slightly before he spoke.

"Ms T'loak would you excuse us" Aria shrugged and walked out of the chamber, as the door closed, Shepard saw Jack, Samara and Liara restrain her in a combined biotic field. "For now we wait for the pirates to strike out, but I suggest you make your way to the new Citadel, what reinforcements I could contact are meeting there, along with a small contingent of Reapers, which were constructing it." Hackett paused, "uploading the new Citadel's coordinates, I'll…"

"I know where the Citadel is" Shepard interrupted.

"It's not where it used to be, that was deemed to exposed, it's in a much more secure location, you've been there before." Again an odd smile crept across Hackett's face.

"Admiral, I've been to every corner of the galaxy, you may need to be a bit more specific" Shepard said, mocking the admiral's vague statement, the admiral didn't share Shepard's humour; his reply was stern and humourless.

"Commander, the Reapers know the galaxy better than anyone, they had a shielded, well positioned fortress in a location no one would find, and the Reapers have built the new Citadel at the galaxy's core, where you once attacked the collector base."

Shepard was stunned. "But the Omega Four Relay is the only means of getting to it, and… I see, very clever of them, but wasn't the relay destroyed?"

Hackett smiled. "The reapers built a relay capable of sending ships to the core, it's the relay in the Citadel's old system, but it looks like every other relay, ingenious for them to give so much care to the details."

Shepard took a moment to consider the facts, "acknowledged Admiral, Shepard out."

Hackett nodded and his hologram vanished, Shepard turned and left the QEC chamber, and found Aria biotic wrestling with Samara, Jack and Liara, she growled with frustration, walked behind Aria and grabbed her by the collar, dragging her to the lift. When Aria realised who was dragging her, she subsided in struggling.

"Got more 'fun' in mind commander?" Aria said playfully, without looking, Shepard punched Aria across the face, knocking her out.

"Not exactly" she replied coldly, as she hauled Aria into the lift, and descended to the crew deck.

Once there, she continued to drag Aria across the floor to the Medical Bay, dumping her on a table, and strapping her down before speaking to the doctors who were caring for Miranda.

"How is she?" Shepard asked as she moved from Aria's table to Miranda's side, holding her girlfriend's hand.

"We've looked over her medical records, and listened to what Liara told us" Michel said, reviewing Miranda's chart in her hand,

"We think we've solved the mystery of Miranda's abdominal pains, we think that somehow you've cured her sterility, that much we can be sure of, but how baffles us." Chakwas finished her partner's sentence and looked deep into Shepard's eyes, "care to tell your part of the story commander?" Chakwas' question cut through the commander's listless staring at her girlfriend and brought her back to attention.

"I would have thought that Hackett had told you about my second return from death?" Shepard replied coarsely.

"Actually, the admiral was rather secretive, told us only what we needed to know, which was very little it seems" Doctor Michel said, placing the chart down on a table and folding her arms.

"Now is not the time, besides the more pressing matter is the pirate queen, knocked out in the next bed" Miranda said sitting up in bed, still clutching her stomach, "I assume you made a deal between you, Hackett and Aria, care to tell me the terms." the XO stood up and looked over Aria's unconscious form.

"Hackett has ordered she be fitted with a control device, and allowed relative freedom to serve in the Normandy's crew, I'd hoped you would be able to help" Shepard said hugging Miranda.

"Oh Shepard please let us forget that matter, but you're right I can help, EDI, do we have any control chips on-board?" Miranda said reciprocating Shepard's hug, EDI responded quickly.

"Affirmative, second draw from the right in the desk."

"We'll get to work right away, now if you'll let us get to work," Chakwas said ushering the pair out of the room and locking the door behind them.

"Well aren't they eager" Miranda said as she took Shepard's hand and walked with her to the lift, "I see the Normandy has changed since I was last here, care to give me the tour Commander" Miranda continued, wrapping an arm around her girlfriend and resting her head on Shepard's shoulder.

"Alright then" she replied, kissing Miranda on the cheek and leading her to the lift.


	11. Into the Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Normandy heads to the new Citadel

Chapter XI: Into the Eye.

After the tour, Shepard and Miranda returned to the med bay, finding Aria awake and standing, inspecting herself in a reflection.

"No bruising, no scars, yet you doctors don't seem afraid" Aria commented, to which Chakwas smiled and looked calmly at Aria's face.

"I'd like to see you try," Chakwas said dryly.

"Commander we did as you asked, and as Aria here was keen to point out, we left no trace." Michel smiled at the commander, who smiled back at the doctors and looked over Aria herself.

"Well Aria, we've almost arrived at the new Citadel, you're coming with me to speak to the Council about what you're old associates have planned." Shepard said smiling at the situation the usually formidable Asari was unknowingly trapped in.

"Fine! Anything is better than feeling like a lab rat, with this closet couple staring at me!" Aria snapped and stormed out the med bay followed quickly by Miranda. Michel and Chakwas looked bewildered, first at where Aria had been, then at each other, then at Shepard, who calmly stated.

"Ignore her; she's trying to irritate us." Shepard walked calmly out of the med bay and up to the bridge. She found Aria kneeling by the air lock, Miranda standing over her smiling.

"That's what happens when you stray too far from Shepard, or try to leave without permission, you get a nice shock using your own biotics" Miranda said confidentially as Aria got to her feet.

"Human bitch!" she spat at Miranda.

"Commander, we are about to reach the New Citadel, you may want to look, Hackett says it is a sight to behold" EDI said, cutting through the tense situation, Shepard walked into the cockpit followed by Miranda, but Aria remained at the air lock.

As the Citadel came into view, on the edge of the Accretion Disc, where the Collector base had been, Shepard and Miranda gasped in awe, the new Citadel was almost identical to the old one, but far bigger, and heavily guarded by Asari, Salarian, Turian, Human and Reaper ships, with a few stragglers from other races in amongst the fleets. In the light of the galactic core, the citadel glowed as they drew closer to the central tower, passing the outer arms, Shepard could see that Reapers and numerous races were still constructing the numerous buildings.

"I wonder if this citadel will have Keepers?" Joker puzzled out loud, EDI responded curtly.

"I doubt it Jeff, they were all on the last Citadel when it was destroyed, and I doubt there were any survivors" there was a pause before Joker spoke up again.

"Shame really, they were completely innocent in the war."

The Normandy docked close to the base of the Citadel tower, and everyone was waiting by the air lock when Shepard, Miranda, EDI and Joker exited the cockpit, the air lock doors opened slowly and Shepard lead the crew on to the new citadel, where Hackett was waiting for them.

"Greetings Commander, Aria, and friends" he said as his form of greeting them, everyone except Aria and Jack saluted the admiral, before most of the crew dispersed. Miranda, Shepard, Aria and Hackett headed to the lift and up to the Council.

As the lift doors opened, Shepard wrapped an arm around Miranda's hip, as they walked through a familiar, but empty area before the Council's chamber. As they approached, the four Council members turned to face them, smiling politely at them, but shooting dirty looks in Aria's direction.

"Greetings Admiral, Shepard, Ms Lawson and… Aria" Dominic Osba said, stepping forward to shake their hands, but passed at shaking Aria's, "we're glad to see your alive, someone of your unique skill is necessary to deal with such an unknown threat" he continued, Shepard returned the smiles.

"Glad to see you survived the war, what's the situation?"

"The reconstruction effort is gaining momentum, the Citadel nears completion and Thessia, Palaven and Sur'Kesh are rebuilt" the Asari councillor said proudly.

"Our fleets, however, are not as strong as they were before the war." The Turian councillor interjected, "due to most of our effort being focused on rebuilding, not rearming."

"And the Reapers?" Miranda asked tentatively.

"Some are helping with the rebuilding, some are defending the citadel, others are wandering the galaxy with no clear aim, and no one has seen Harbinger since Earth." Hackett responded abruptly, there was silence when Harbinger was mentioned.

"What of Leviathan?" Shepard asked, quickly changing the subject.

"It has taken up residence here, guarding the Citadel, though communicating with it is proving difficult, it seems unwilling to talk to us" the Salarian councillor said, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Alright that's all I needed to know for now. Let us get down to the real reason for this meeting" Shepard said, giving a sharp nudge to Aria.

"Yes shall we, not that it isn't fun hearing you gossip" Aria's voice was edged with anger. "You want to know about the pirate's plan, and seeing as you've upheld your end of the bargain" Aria shot a glance at Hackett who ignored it, "I'll uphold by end."

Aria looked around, and revelled in how the most powerful figures in the galaxy were hanging on her every word. "the last orders I gave regarding 'Operation Shepard'" Aria started, sneaking a glance at Shepard, "was to capture any unguarded systems for resources, I know that the pirate fleets are spread out at the moment, and that they were planning a strike on a major settlement, but other than that I was not the boss, I was paid by an unknown person a large figure to unify Omega's gangs under their command."

"So you don't know who is in charge, or where they will strike?" Miranda asked.

"No bitch I don't, it was all to hush hush for my liking, and I was kept very much in the dark," Aria bit back at Miranda, "if I knew I would tell you."

Silence enveloped them as they realised the situation, "We need to ensure they strike us where we can retaliate quickly, not where we are weak" the Asari councillor spoke up.

"Thank you Ms T'loak that'll be all" Hackett said ushering her away.

"I'll go with her, make sure she doesn't try anything" Miranda said, following closely behind Aria, as Shepard and Hackett turned back to face the councillors.

"Might I suggest baiting them" Shepard said, with a hint of mischief in her eyes.

"What do you have in mind?" Osba asked, Shepard smiled and activated her omni-tool displaying a basic galaxy map, with the key planetary locations, including the Citadel.

"What if we bait the pirates into attacking here, by making it seem that the council home worlds would be to heavily defended for them to attack, but in reality all our forces are here, we trap them here and either destroy them or force a surrender on our terms." Hackett raised a hand to his chin, pondering the idea, as the councillors looked at the galaxy map considering Shepard's plan.

"How would we make it look like our home worlds are heavily defended?" the Turian councillor asked.

"Simple, have say ten, twenty reapers above each and that will show a sign of strength the pirates would be fool hardy to attack twenty reapers with their fleet, they'd lose." Shepard's reply caused smiles to appear on the councillor's faces.

"That sounds like a strategy," the Salarian said beaming, "we then let slip the citadel's new location, and imply it's not so heavily defended, and they will come running to attack here and deal a crippling blow" Osba added, the group then fell silent.

"Can you send the word Grand Admiral?" the Asari asked Hackett, Shepard raised an eyebrow in Hackett's direction.

"After the war I was made Grand Admiral of all Council race fleets, a means of showing unity and strength when we were in reality weak, and yes, I'll send the word" Hackett said, turning and leaving quickly, leaving Shepard and the councillors, as Osba stepped forward.

"Commander, in light of your previous actions against Saren, the Collectors, Cerberus and the Reapers, the Systems Alliance and the Council would like to promote you to the rank of General, your XO Ms Lawson will take the Commander position aboard the Normandy, and other promotions have been granted to the appropriate members of your crew, congratulations" he shook the general's hand as she smiled proudly.

"Thank you councillor, this is an honour."

"You must understand that saving the galaxy deserves no reward, as it is more than appropriate, but we felt this would suffice for your loyal service and dedication" Osba said firmly, Shepard saluted the council, and turned to leave.

"Good luck" they said in unison as Shepard walked out of sight.

She quickly caught up to Miranda, who had managed to lose track of Aria's movement, and was standing in an empty courtyard looking bewildered, Shepard snuck up behind her, grabbed her by the shoulders, turned her around and engaged her in a passionate kiss, Miranda's biotics flared as she prepared to hurl her attacker away, but when she realised it was her girlfriend, her defences melted away in her kiss, her arms wrapping around her neck.

"Hey Commander" Shepard said as they parted lips, Miranda tilted her head to one side,

"Commander?" she asked curiously.

"We've been promoted for our service, I'm a General, and you're my second in command, as Commander Lawson, what do you think?" Shepard smiled into her lover's eyes, whose reply was a tighter hug.

"This is a nice surprise, and means I'm no longer tied to any of Cerberus' war crimes, we should celebrate" she said proudly, their embrace was cut short when both their omni-tools started beeping, they separated and answered the call, both of them saw the same message at the same time.

"Greetings council scum, for too long you have hoarded power between the three of you, only letting humanity join after they saved your sorry asses from Sovereign…" a shadowy figure said in a heavily distorted voice, Shepard stopped her recording, Miranda paused hers as the General contacted EDI.

"EDI, can you trace the message?" the AI responded immediately.

"I have tried locating the source of the message, without success, it was sent to every omni device across the galaxy simultaneously, and is likely that the pirate's attacks are part of his plan." When EDI hung up, Miranda played the rest of the recorded message.

"…But no more, a plan is in motion to level the field, creating a more balanced centre of power in the galaxy, soon the Council races will know true suffering, as they are cast from their thrones to an equal footing with the rest of us, heed this warning."

Miranda and Shepard looked at each other before running to find the rest of the crew; they found them standing below the Normandy, waiting by the cargo bay doors. They turned to face Shepard as she and Miranda arrived, they all looked confused and annoyed.

"What's going on" Miranda asked as they stopped running.

"Traynor, Daniels, doctor Chakwas and Michel have locked us out of the Normandy, they sent a message saying to wait here, EDI's clueless as they've blinded several of her on board cameras" Joker said.

"And don't worry, we saw the message, kinda hard not to" Ashley added, cutting off Shepard's next question before she had even asked it.

The following silence was broken by the cargo bay doors opening, the crew then ran up the short incline, to find the four culprits standing behind a vast table, surrounded by chairs for each of the crew members, the four smiled at the rest of the crew's bewildered looks.

"What brought this on?" Garrus asked, breaking yet another silence that had come over the group.

"Well before that psychopath's message, we decided to prepare a meal for everyone, to celebrate surviving the Reaper war and being united once more, now it seems a bit badly timed" Traynor replied in earnest. The crew looked at each other before smiling, and walking past the set up to the lift.

"Where do you all think you're going?" Chakwas asked the group as a group bustled into the lift.

"To dress for dinner, duh" Joker replied, as the lift doors closed, after a couple of minutes everyone had filed into the lift and gotten off at their floor, with instructions from Shepard to be back in the cargo bay within an hour, and to make sure they dressed smartly.


	12. Normandy Fine Dining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew share a meal together

Chapter XII: Normandy Fine Dining.

An hour later, Shepard and Miranda stepped out of the lift to a truly unique sight, the entire Normandy crew were gathered around the table, all dressed smartly and looking towards them, including Javik who wasn't wearing armour for once, even Hackett had joined them, though he was in his uniform.

Miranda was dressed in a white version of her old red evening dress, and Shepard was also wearing a similar dress, but with a black tailored jacket over it, with the Alliance logo sewn on to the chest pocket. The couple took their seat at the head of the table as Chakwas and Michel lifted off the cloches to reveal a full roast dinner, including a dextro equivalent for Garrus and Tali, who were seated together.

There was an audible gasp as everyone took in the splendid site before them, then chaos ensued.

Upon Shepard saying, "Help yourselves." everyone took what they could, piling their plates with as much as they could take, when the chaos died, and silence crashed over them as everyone focused on eating.

"So…" jack started saying, between chewing her food, "what do you think that asshole meant by 'level the field'?"

Wrex snorted, "who cares, he's using pirates, unless he's got them fully on his side, they will betray him or his plan won't account for their own greed" Zaeed, Garrus and Grunt nodded in agreement.

"However," Tali said slowly, "if he is the same race as one of the pirate races, they will be on his side and follow his point of view, I mean there are four Council races, and roughly ten non-council races, not including Reapers, who would be open to killing large numbers of any race, given the chance." There was a pause as they all continued eating,

"You do realise Tali, that Quarians are one of those ten" Samara said.

"Yes" Tali replied, "But we wouldn't want to start a war over our position, we've had enough war to last several lifetimes, plus we're a bit busy rebuilding on Rannoch." There was another pause before Garrus spoke up.

"So what races would be open to wiping out a large chunk of each of the council races?"

"Well the Batarians are too low in numbers to sustain a war, though they still hate humans" Hackett stated.

"The Geth are with the Quarians rebuilding Rannoch, the Drell and Hanar prefer peace and have no ill will towards the council" Kasumi said, gnawing on a leg of meat.

"That leaves the Vorcha, Rachni, Volus, Yahg, Elcor and Krogan" Shepard summarised. "It's not us, we're too busy mating" Grunt blurted out, causing the rest to choke on their food.

"Let's not go there grunt, we're eating" Jacob said swallowing his food, Grunt chuckled and bit into a haunch of Varren meat.

"The Rachni owe their very existence to you Shepard, they wouldn't be foolish to attack you and risk being wiped out" Miranda said, noting a major part of Shepard's recent history.

"The Yahg are mere beasts, not capable of forming such a plan" Zaeed stated.

"Ahem!" Liara interjected, "one of them used to be the Shadow Broker, who was quite capable of planning something like this."

"Yeah, but he was disintegrated, and may not be the only intelligent Yahg out there, after all the Council doesn't monitor them closely enough to know if they have evolved at all since they were quarantined" Ashley said putting down her knife and fork, there was another pause.

"So we've narrowed it down to Volus, Vorcha or Yahg, it's not much but it's a start, I'll go report to the Council, tell them what we've discussed" Hackett said getting up and walking round the table to the lift.

"I didn't realise this was a formal meeting" Shepard joked.

"It may not have been, but you have helped narrow down who might be behind this threat, thanks for the food, good bye."

Hackett saluted the group as the lift doors closed, the group then turned back to the table and finished eating the main course, many reclined in their seats, groaning with satisfaction.

"Good grub" Wrex said, shortly before belching, Grunt, Zaeed and Garrus entered rival belches, but were all beaten by Michel, who stunned everyone with a very loud belch that silenced the group.

"Excusez-moi" she said timidly, blushing slightly.

"Impressive, for a primitive" Javik said, "this has been a pleasant experience, dining with primitives, instead of on them is an unusual change" he continued.

"Well, this seems as good a moment as any" Shepard said standing up and reaching for something in her pocket.

"What is it?" Miranda asked, her curiosity rising, Shepard turned to face her.

"Well my dear, I can't think of a better time, or a better situation for me to ask this." Shepard got down on one knee and opened a small box containing a ring that EDI had once given to Shepard as a gift;

"Miranda" Shepard said as Miranda's hands covered her mouth and her face flushed red, "will you marry me?" Shepard asked holding the ring out to her lover, as the group gasped in surprise.

EDI was about to speak up regarding the ring but Joker elbowed her in the side.

Tears welled in Miranda's eyes as she gave her response, "yes, yes of course yes" with that she hugged Shepard tightly and engaged her in a loving kiss, before cutting it off so Georgia could place the ring on Miranda's finger, its cold metal glinting in the bright lights of the cargo bay.

There was an uproar of applause from the rest of the crew as the couple hugged again, but the revelry was interrupted by Shepard's omni-tool beeping loudly, she answered and saw Aria looking annoyed.

"Care to let me in, or will it spoil your party?" she said angrily, EDI tilted her head and said calmly.

"I have opened the air lock, Aria can come aboard"

"Thank you" was Aria's curt reply. A minute later Aria walked lazily into the cargo bay, smiling in her usual arrogant manner at the sight that greeted her, "did I miss anything?" she said, a hint of mild curiosity in her tone.

"The General and I just got engaged, and we had a rather opulent meal together, other than that, nothing you need to worry about" Miranda said proudly, Aria raising an eyebrow.

"Who's the general?" she asked.

"I am, we all got promoted for our services in the Reaper war" Shepard said, wrapping an arm around Miranda's waist and pulled her in close.

"Congratulations then, but I have news for you, regarding the Omega gang's current activities, a loyal informant contacted me, saying that they are moving on council colonies, planning on exterminating them" Aria said proudly. Shepard activated her omni-tool but Aria stopped her, "don't worry, I've informed the Admiral, we passed each other as I returned here, he told me you were celebrating something" she said smiling cruelly.

"Alright" Shepard said switching off her omni-tool, " I think we should call it a night, thank you for the meal, everyone dismissed" with that she and her new fiancée were first into the lift and headed for their quarters.

They stepped out of the lift and the doors closed quickly behind them, the door locking behind them.

"Thank you EDI" Miranda said grinning warmly at Shepard, they entered the cabin and Shepard locked the door behind them, "Shepard, are we going to talk about what Chakwas and Michel told us earlier?" Miranda asked, she had needed to ask this question since the meeting with the council.

"What's there to discuss?" Shepard replied, her fingers quickly clasping the zip on the back of Miranda's dress and effortlessly undoing it, letting it fall to the floor, "you're no longer sterile, we have the potential to start a family now, it's a blessing of sorts, we…" Miranda cut in.

"You making it through the war was a blessing for me, but you surviving the Citadel's explosion and the fall to Earth, then we have sex and I'm no longer sterile after, that's something more than a blessing, Shepard, I really think you should let Chakwas give you a full look over, make sure nothing is wrong, or at least get to the bottom of you curing my genetic sterility." When Miranda had finished speaking, they were both completely naked, "still impatient I see?" Miranda joked as Shepard hoisted her into her arms and carried her to the bed, kissing her neck as she did.

"I'll see Chakwas in the morning, for now my beautiful fiancée, the night is young, and I'm in the mood for love" Shepard whispered into Miranda's ear, she nipped the lobe then laid a trail of kisses from Miranda's ear down to her belly button.

As she lay them down on the bed, Miranda ran her fingers through the general's hair, and Shepard then began kissing her fiancée's inner thigh, caressing the outer thigh with her fingers. Miranda sank into the duvet and pillows, as Shepard's tongue flickered across her sex, before circling her clitoris playfully.

"Oh Georgia" Miranda gasped as she felt her lover's tongue dance around her clitoris, causing waves of pleasure to ripple across her body in waves,

Shepard's tongue was joined by two fingers that slid slowly between her folds and massaged the vaginal walls with vigour. Miranda sank further into the bed sheets, her arms flailing around, grasping on to anything to sustain the pleasure that had intensified within her. Georgia could tell when Miranda was nearing climax as her leg muscles tensed, and Miranda's groaning intensified in volume, she increased her speed as she came, her fingers gently squeezed as her lover's vaginal walls contracted in the climax, and her juices flowing slowly over her fingers.

Shepard slithered up Miranda's body, as it quivered from the force of her climax, and engaged her in another passionate kiss.

"My turn" Miranda whispered as she flipped them over so she was in control. Miranda planted a trail of kisses from Shepard's neck down to the base of her cock, before licking up the shaft and kissing the head.

Georgia groaned with the sensations, as Miranda slowly wrapped her lips around the head and slid the length of it into her mouth, then gently bobbed her head up and down on Georgia's cock. Her tongue flicking over the head, Georgia closed her eyes and drifted into the pleasure she was feeling. She lost all sense of the time that passed, only being brought back down to earth when she came, her cum oozing down the shaft, as Miranda lay in bed next to Georgia, one hand on her stomach, the other in Georgia's hand.

"Miranda" Georgia breathed slowly, wiping her semen off her stomach with a tissue, and throwing it into the nearby trash bin, "do you want to have sex now?"

There was a still pause, where the only sounds were the hum of the engines and their steady slow breathing.

"Of course, but remember what the doctors said yesterday, I'm no longer sterile so I can get pregnant, I don't want to rush anything" Miranda said, rolling over and pressing her body against Georgia's, the pair looked deep into each other's eyes for a moment before Georgia spoke.

"Well we're engaged after roughly two and a half years together, for most that is a bit rushed, but I truly love you, and would love to start a family with you and settle down."

Miranda smiled, kissed Georgia on the cheek and said softly.

"Settle down? Where's the fun in that?" the pair giggled at the joke before silence set in, the quiet atmosphere was shattered like glass, as Georgia's intercom beeped loudly from her desk.

Georgia grunted with her irritation at the tender love fuelled moment being rudely interrupted, she wrapped herself in Miranda's black dressing gown and walked over to her desk to answer the call, Traynor's apologetic voice spoke up.

"Sorry to interrupt commander, but Hackett is trying to reach you, he says its urgent, shall I connect you?"


	13. The Storm's Landfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pirates make their move

Chapter XIII: The Storm's Landfall.

Hackett appeared on the glass display case facing Shepard, who saluted and greeted the admiral warmly, despite the interruption to the intimate moment between her and her fiancée.

Hackett was first to speak, "Shepard, I apologise for the interruption, but this matter could not wait until morning" Shepard didn't answer, Miranda decided to remain in bed, watching the conversation between Georgia and Hackett, similarly put off by the interruption.

"Approximately ten minutes ago, the pirate attacks on the colonies that Aria mentioned took place, they dropped out of nowhere, bombarded the colonies from orbit, and fled before we could muster a counter strike, so far seven Salarian and Asari colonies have been obliterated, casualty figures are unknown for the time being" Hackett stated, Miranda gasped from the bed, but didn't get up.

"How have we responded?" Shepard asked, Hackett's reply was instantaneous.

"We've posted whatever ships we could risk to our colonies, the Turians have done the same, but the Asari and Salarians have begun evacuating any vulnerable colonies, but the majority of the Council and allied fleets are still in reserve around the Citadel, we are refusing to get drawn into a war."

"That's a wise strategy; did Aria leak the 'vital' information for the bait?" Shepard asked, quickly trying to rush the conversation to its conclusion.

"I believe she did, if you're plan works we will be able to get an upper hand on the situation and potentially find out who we are dealing with, and what forces they have at their disposal."

There was a pause before Hackett changed the subject, "I heard you and Ms Lawson are engaged, congratulations to you both, on another note, I have received word that the team in charge of the citadel construction want you there at a small opening ceremony, it's to take place in over twenty four hours' time."

"Understood sir, concerning the situation with the pirates, I as you know have a wedding to plan and I can't manage both a war effort and a wedding, there has to be a compromise."

Hackett quickly gave the compromise, "you manage the war, and the Alliance will sort out the wedding, think of it as another reward for your shining example of what humanity is capable of, Hackett out." Hackett's sudden departure caught the couple off guard.

Shepard blinked in surprise, before unplugging the intercom, with a message to Traynor to not interrupt her again, before re-joining Miranda in bed and quickly drifting off to sleep in her arms, their romantic mood completely obliterated.

When Shepard woke, she found Miranda talking to Traynor on the intercom, she smiled at the sight of Miranda's naked body bent over the desk as she spoke with Traynor, Shepard slid out of bed and walked up to her side, deciding to also remain naked.

"What's going on?" Georgia said, kissing Miranda on the neck and pressed her body into Miranda's back.

"There's been an update on the pirate attacks on colonies, they've dropped in numbers, but the pirates have blockaded the four council home worlds, whilst one carrier continues the colony attacks" Miranda said, turning her head to look into Shepard's eyes.

"That's correct General, overnight they have blockaded the four council home worlds, and have left one carrier to annihilate colonies one at a time" Traynor added.

"Right, we need to act now, tell everyone to gather in the cargo bay, and request four stealth ships from Hackett, I have an idea to end this problem, Shepard and Lawson out" Georgia said, ending the call and then spinning Miranda around and engaging her in a kiss.

The couple then dressed and headed down to the cargo bay, where they waited for the others to arrive, after half an hour of waiting, the rest of the crew, and Aria, arrived fully armed and eager to strike back at this attack.

"You know why we're here, the pirates have dared to blockade the council home worlds, in an attempt to goad us into war, but instead of a full on attack, we will strike at each of the blockades simultaneously, without risking lives we will need for the final strike."

As Shepard spoke, there was the roar of engines outside, "my plan is that we split into four, and strike at the main ship of each blockade, breaking them before they can cause any casualties." Shepard continued, "The team being sent to Thessia will consist of Wrex, EDI, Liara and Jacob" as she spoke the doors opened, revealing four smaller ships waiting for them. "the team going to Earth will be Zaeed, Ashley, Jack and Tali" the eight people mentioned moved into their group and stood nearing the door, "the four who are being sent to save Palaven will be Garrus, James, Samara…"

"Mind if I join Shepard?" a voice said from behind her.

She turned to see a familiar face striding up the ramp towards the group, already armed and ready.

"Kolyat? What are you doing here" Miranda asked, greeting the Drell warmly, he seemed almost the spitting image of his father now, but a lighter complexion and a vicious scar down his right eye were visible differences.

"Hackett suggested I join your team, he seems to think I'm the same as Thane, I'm not nearly as good as he was, but I'm willing to fight with you as he did" Kolyat said resolutely.

"Alright, it's not like me to turn down help, you will join the team going to Palaven, leaving Grunt, Kasumi, Aria and Javik to defend Sur-Kesh."

The rest of the team filed into their designated groups, as Javik passed Shepard she whispered, "Keep Aria under control" Javik nodded slightly and continued as if she hadn't spoken.

"What of you two? Where will you lovebirds be whilst we're risking our butts?" Jack asked as neither of the commanding officers had joined one of the four groups.

"We're needed on the Citadel, organising the hammer that will deliver the crippling blow to the pirates when they come here" Miranda smirked at the ex-convict, who murmured her discontent.

"Good luck all of you, those ships will take you to the blockades, from which you will strike against them, if you need help do call us, and we will respond as soon as possible, dismissed" Shepard said as the crew turned and marched down the ramp to the stealth ships Hackett had delivered them.

As the ships took off, Shepard turned to her fiancée and muttered, "well, we've got the ship to ourselves, what shall we do between now and the ceremony tomorrow?" Before Miranda could speak however, her omni-tool beeped, she answered and Hackett spoke up quickly as the call connected.

"Shepard, I hope whatever you're doing with the blockades works, but I understand you are not leading the assault, as the Normandy is still docked at the Citadel." There was a pause, where Shepard didn't give a response, "but I'm personally glad you have remained behind, the Alliance has almost completed the plans for your wedding, but they still need your oversight on certain aspects, they have sent messages to you that need to be responded, from what I have been told, you are both also needed for a dress fitting on Illium as soon as possible."

Hackett clearly didn't have much interest in the details and was rushing through it to end it as soon as possible, which was an attitude Shepard had never seen before.

"I'd suggest you get it out of the way as soon as possible, so you can focus on the more important pirate threat, Hackett out" the admiral cut the call short before Shepard or Miranda could respond.

"Well, that's what we can do with the spare time, let's go" Miranda said in response to the earlier question, before dragging Shepard into the lift, to take care of the wedding details.


	14. Honour and Protect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shepard retaliates to the pirates' attacks

Chapter XIV: Honour and Protect.

The next day Shepard received word that Palaven, Sur'Kesh and Earth had been freed from the pirate blockade, as she was returning to the Citadel for the naming ceremony; Hackett had been infuriatingly vague as to what was involved in the ceremony, so she was going in blind, and was uncomfortable with this notion.

She and Miranda stepped off the Normandy and were met by the Council, the four greeted them and lead them to the usual area of the Citadel tower, where a hologram of the Citadel was floating above the councillor's podium, and the crew that had returned were there waiting for her.

"Commander, the Citadel nears completion, and we felt as the saviour of the galaxy, we would bestow the honour of naming the Citadel wards, we felt the old ones were outdated, care to suggest five new names for the wards?" Osba said, pointing at the Citadel hologram, blank labels appeared pointing to each of the arms, Shepard didn't hesitate in giving a reply.

"I feel they should be named after five heroes of the Normandy and of the Reaper war, who gave their lives to protect the galaxy from the enemy threat, Thane Krios, Legion vas Normandy, Nyreen Kandros, Mordin Solus and David Anderson." There was a pause as the Council deliberated on these names.

"Very well, the five arms of the Citadel shall be named Krios, Legion, Kandros, Solus and Anderson, as a tribute to their sacrifice, thank you general" Dominic said, a tear forming in his eye.

Shepard saluted and turned to re-join her crew members, some also showed signs of being on the verge of crying.

"Well well Shepard, getting the council to name an arm of the citadel after a criminal, that's ballsy of you" Aria gloated, Shepard shot her a look and a sentence that cut her pride down.

"Nyreen was Turian military, and a more honourable 'criminal' than Omega deserved." There was another pause.

"I can't believe they're naming an arm after a Geth, considering what they did to the last one." Tali blurted, everyone turned to look at her.

"Legion wasn't like your average Geth" Garrus replied earnestly, those who had known it nodded in approval, Ashley quickly spoke up.

"I understand naming an arm after Anderson, why not Kaidan?"

"I felt with the current climate, two arms named after humans, it wouldn't be right or a wise move to make, Thane died protecting the Salarian councillor, and Mordin died so the Krogan would aid Turians, by curing the genophage." Shepard said as she lead the crew back to the Normandy.

"Those names show great respect for all races, and you honour their memory" Samara added, effectively summing up the conversation.

"Now let's go save Thessia and save the missing crew members" Zaeed stated, to which the entire group cheered, they got back to the Normandy to find Joker looking panicked.

"What's the situation?" Shepard asked her pilot.

"Its EDI, she sent me a message, they've been captured, Thessia is free, but they're being held hostage, I told her to give them the citadel location, I thought the pirates might let her go, I just…" Shepard cut in on Joker's panicked monologue.

"Joker, you did perfectly, luring the pirates here was the end game, you've helped bring this conflict to a swift conclusion, send word to Hackett, ready all fleets around the Citadel and prepare for war, it's time we end this pirate nuisance once and for all."

The crew cheered, Aria remained quiet, the crew quickly dispersed and Joker walked into the cockpit and locked the door, leaving Aria and Shepard standing by the air lock.

"Once the pirates are dealt with, what happens to me, I've still got this chip in my head, you going to let me go, or keep me as your 'pet'?" Aria asked, staring into Shepard's eyes, the general saw a hint of emotion in her eyes which was quickly clouded over.

"I haven't decided, I quite enjoy your company on the ship, it's a new presence on the Normandy, why do you ask, and do you want to stay aboard?" Shepard replied, raising an eyebrow at the formidable Asari. Aria paused, considering what she would say before replying.

"Well the food is awful, the drinks are standard, the company both amusing and irritating, and the accommodation is a cross between Omega and the Citadel, I might stay, be a pirate queen from an Alliance ship, like your other Asari." Aria smiled cruelly; clearly she had learnt what Liara did from her quarters.

"You'd be safe, and with the relations between you and me, no one would dare fuck with either of us" Shepard added, "Aria, you have yourself a deal" Shepard held out her hand and Aria promptly shook it and smiled.

"I like the way the new you thinks" Aria said walking off towards the lift as the cockpit door opened.

"Command… sorry General, the fleets are almost ready, Hackett has sent a ship to monitor the Citadel mass relay for incoming forces, I'll call if when I hear something." Joker quickly said before limping over to his chair and sitting down, Shepard smiled and walked quickly to her quarters, she knew what she wanted to do whilst they waited for the pirate onslaught, to be with Miranda.

She entered her quarters to find Miranda in a similar mood, lying completely naked on their bed, the sheets teasingly covering her most intimate areas, Shepard quickly undressed and bundled into bed and engaged Miranda in a kiss, whilst holding her head in her hands.

Hours later, Shepard awoke to find the intercom beeping furiously, she slid gently out of bed, making sure not to wake Miranda and answered the call.

"General, Hackett reports the pirates are on their way, he estimates two, three days before the full force reaches the Citadel, in the meantime, Aria has some information you may find vital." Traynor reported to her commanding officer, Shepard acknowledged and hung up before quickly dressing and summoning Aria to her quarters.

"Nice place" Aria said serenely as she entered, looking around at the spacious cabin, she eyed Miranda asleep in the bed, smiled before turning to address Shepard, "my inside source has been found out and killed" Aria started, she held up a hand to stop Shepard from speaking, "don't sell me your pity, now is not the time, as you know by now the pirates and their allies are on their way, but before he died, my contact gave me the exact location of where you're crew members are being held, I've given them to your pilot, all you have to do is act fast or risk losing them."

Shepard looked at Aria bewildered, "what ally?"

Aria smirked, "the person in charge of the whole plan and supposedly a rogue Reaper or two, don't worry Hackett knows." Shepard raised an eyebrow at how cooperative the queen of Omega was being with the Alliance. "is that all?" Aria asked, clearly bored now with the conversation.

"You may go, thank you Aria" Shepard said, as she left, the general slapped Aria on the ass, eliciting a growl before the doors closed.

"What was that?" Miranda asked scornfully from behind Shepard, who turned and smiled.

"Just keeping our pirate in line is all, nothing to worry about, how are you?"

Miranda sighed, "fine, exhausted but fine, maybe I'll stay in bed a little longer" she yawned and turned to go back to bed, Shepard stopped her by grabbing her wrist.

"Oh no you don't, you're coming with me to free Liara, Wrex, Jacob and EDI from the pirates." Without waiting for a reply she dragged a half dressed Miranda into the lift, handing her a shirt to wear as they went.

When they reached the CIC, Shepard took her usual place at the galaxy map and selected the location of the pirates holding her crew, before re-joining Miranda,

"Should be an hour or two, shall we…" Shepard indicated towards the firing range and Miranda nodded.

When they arrived at the asteroid where the pirates were holding the four crew members, Shepard gathered everyone in the CIC, to go over a basic plan of attack.

"Simple plan for a simple op, go in, kill the pirates, save the crew, get any data we can and leave, any comments" Shepard summarised, eager to get going and save her crew.

"Just one, why not set the asteroid to explode, make it look like an accident, and that we failed, might make the pirate scum overconfident" Zaeed said, his wicked smile etched on to his scarred face, there were several murmurings of agreement with his idea.

"All right then," Shepard said, "go in, rescue the hostages, get any data, get out and blow the asteroid up."

The crew cheered a response and together they marched to the air lock, as the Normandy docked with the asteroid, as the air lock doors opened, Miranda, Jack and Samara hurled a combined biotic shockwave that blasted the un-expecting pirate defenders backward and crushing them against the far wall.

As more pirates rushed to stop the invaders, the crew collectively opened fire, creating a wall of bullets that cut the defenders to pieces before they could fire a shot, when they reached the end of the corridor, the group split, Shepard leading the first group to find the holding cells, whilst Zaeed lead a small contingent to plant charges in key areas to obliterate the station. Shepard lead them through corridor after corridor, leaving pirate corpses in their wake, occasionally one would stop, open a side door and fire upon any caught unaware within.

"Why so bloodthirsty Shepard?" Miranda asked, managing to keep pace with her fiancée.

"They had the balls to capture my crew, they knew this would happen, they brought it on themselves, I shouldn't…" Miranda grabbed Shepard's arm and stopped her, as the rest of the crew ran past them.

"Shepard this isn't like you, you used to be so forgiving and kind, what happened to you?"

"You really want to know how I survived, why I've changed, the first, I honestly don't know how I survived, I wish I did but I don't, I'm as baffled as you are concerning my survival, and I just feel more angry and a greater desire to be ruthless and determined, I'm not sure why" Shepard said, a tear forming in her eye.

Miranda wiped it away and the couple embraced, as an explosion from below them told them Zaeed was making progress in destroying the base, they separated and ran to catch up with the crew, as they did they finally reached the cell block.

Liara, Wrex, Jacob and EDI were held in separate cells, each holding them in place with mass effect fields, EDI was also wired up to a device that shocked her at random intervals, Garrus cocked his rifle and fired one shot into the control panel, it exploded and the cells opened.

"'Bout time Shepard, I was just starting to get bored" Wrex chortled as he picked up a rifle from a dead pirate.

"Your timing is flawless Shepard" EDI stated, "the leader of the pirates had just left the facility moments before you arrived; he was very overconfident you would send another small force to rescue us."

"Who is in charge of the movement?" Kasumi asked her curiosity spiking.

"We'll tell you once we get off this damn base" Jacob cut in, as pirates rounded the corner behind them, the group turned and opened fire, but a pirate biotic raised a barrier and stopped the bullets.

"I'll handle this" Liara said stepping forward and flexing her muscles, she raised her hands towards the pirate group and smashed her hands together. This caused the two pirates who were either side of the biotic to slam into her from either side, knocking her out and lowering the barrier, Wrex laughed and charged them, blasting holes in the pirates with the shotgun he had picked up.

The crew followed close behind Wrex who cleared the way as they returned to the Normandy, Miranda giving the Krogan the occasional directional support if he started going the wrong way. As they approached the docking bay Zaeed and his contingent joined them, he held in his hand a small detonator, which made Shepard run faster, the dived into the Normandy as the ship separated from the asteroid.

Zaeed muttered "boom" and flicked the switch.

A split second later the Normandy rocked as it was hit by the shockwave, the asteroid base torn to pieces in seconds by Zaeed's strategically placed explosives.


	15. Waiting For the Eye of the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Citadel braces for the pirates' attack

Waiting For the Eye of the Storm.

As the crew celebrated, Traynor rushed over to her general.

"General, there's an unidentified signal trying to contact you, shall I set it up in the QEC?" Shepard nodded, as her, Miranda and Liara walked quickly to the QEC. Once inside, Miranda locked the door, as an unlikely shape formed in the holographic display. A small Volus, in a black suit with a white sixteen sided star with a red symbol Shepard recognised as the Citadel logo.

"Commander" the Volus said as he greeted them.

"Its general, what do you want, I'm rather busy at the moment" Shepard almost spat at the hologram.

The Volus laughed, "Busy? Busy preparing to fall before my forces perhaps."

"So you're the gutless worm leading the pirates against the Council races" Miranda said bluntly, a hint of anger in her voice.

"Correct" the Volus replied, "I'm here to offer you a way out, to save yourself from being eliminated, we will need people like you in the coming Eden I have designed."

Liara almost burst out laughing, "Eden, is that what you call wiping out the Council races, and forming a new one with the non-council races in its place" she mocked.

"You have me confused Asari, I don't wish to exterminate the Council races, well, not entirely" the Volus said, a hint of overconfidence in his voice, "I merely wish to destroy their lofty pedestal on which they stand, and make them equal to the rest of us."

"You want us to stand by as you weaken the Council races so you can let the others be the dominant force in the galaxy, I don't think so" Shepard stated clearly, this seemed to catch the Volus off guard.

"I don't think you realise what you are dealing with General, you cannot…." Suddenly Miranda unlocked the door and ran out of sight, now Aria sauntered in and the Volus again laughed. "Aria T'loak, Shepard's latest pet bitch, come to try and threaten me, when I have her gangs under my thumb, pitiful."

Aria growled, "Shut it suit monkey, I will regain my control and you will suffer for forcing me into your plan," she barked pointing at the Volus' holographic image, he just laughed.

"I have more power than you can possibly realise, your pitiful fleets will fall and my new order will rise from your burnt corpses, good bye" the Volus image vanished and was replaced quickly by EDI's old holographic form.

"Shepard I have analysed the signal he used, I know what great power he was referring to." The AI's message made smile appear on Shepard's face.

"Tell me."

EDI responded quickly like she usually did, "the signal he used was stronger than any Reaper signal I have analysed, but it still had Reaper identification, I believe he was transmitting from Harbinger" this answer made silence crash over the room like a tidal wave.

"Well, at least we know what happened to Harbinger now, it found more pawns for its game, and it still wants to wipe out billions, but uniting the galaxy I don't get" Liara said, cutting through the silence before it stagnated.

"Clearly the synthesis did something to its views, sadly not the genocide loving part" Shepard responded.

Aria looked at them bewildered, "you really are strange, you now know what you're up against and you're focusing on what happened to this 'Harbinger'?" she said before strolling out the room, as Miranda returned.

"What I miss?" she asked innocently, Liara glanced at Shepard, who nodded and summoned Wrex, Tali, Javik and EDI, when they arrived, Miranda locked the door behind them.

"What is it general?" Javik asked nonchalantly, Shepard simply smiled and dialled in a name, moments later the four council representative's holographic forms appeared before them.

"Yes General, what may we do for you?" the Asari councillor asked.

"Contact the embassies for the races we don't have here at this moment, I have an idea concerning the imminent attack." Shepard replied quickly, Liara quickly left, locking the door behind her.

It took a few minutes before each race's representative was present either physically or by hologram at the meeting, including Leviathan, Shepard was first to speak.

"Greetings to all of you, I have requested you all here because I know what the enemy intend and how they intend to do it." The numerous representatives, including those among the Normandy crew, greeted each other warmly before Shepard spoke again. "The enemy are led by an unknown Volus, and Harbinger. They intend to literally level the political difference by wiping out most of the Council races and building a new order among the others, as equals."

Shepard paused to catch her breath, "however, I have had an idea to strike another blow against this movement, and we form an equal council now, with a representative from each race representing their people's interests, instead of the most powerful having the advantage." The delegates murmured amongst each other before the Batarian representative spoke.

"Why wasn't this introduced sooner, when the Reapers were defeated, why wasn't power shared equally in this new galaxy" the murmuring intensified.

"Let's not get into that" Shepard said, calming the growing tension, "the point is we should form a new, better council now, and use it to destroy any support this probably indoctrinated Volus has, weakening his message, by not resorting to bloodshed."

"This one is not opposed to such an arrangement" the Hanar said clearly.

"Aye, it's a perfect idea" the Batarian added, the other non-council representatives quickly voiced their support.

"Sharing power equally would not have worked in my cycle, but this cycle is different, and as long as the last Prothean has a voice I will share with the primitives" Javik said from behind Shepard.

The Asari quickly tapped at her holographic keyboard, and a blank constitution appeared before the Normandy crew.

"Very well then" the Salarian stated, "if you would each sign your names here, we will write up a constitution that will officially start an equal Council, with every race represented."

Each representative signed their names next to their race, including Tali, Wrex, and Javik, once they had all signed the document vanished, and the Turian councillor spoke.

"After this crisis is over, each race will choose someone to represent their people on this new council, but for now General tell us what you can about the enemy forces."

Shepard quickly outlined what Aria's old forces consisted of, then the matter of Harbinger being behind the movement, before surmising that it would take everything they had to stop it, "and I believe it will take place on the doorstep of the Citadel, as they know where it is now" Shepard finalised, each representative took a moment before Leviathan spoke, its hologram scaled down to a smaller size.

"The one you call Harbinger is the oldest and strongest Reaper, designed by our construct to institute the cycle, it will not be easily defeated." Another pause before Shepard spoke, "I suggest every ship we can muster rallies at the Citadel, every Reaper we have on our side, every ship, every frigate, every cruiser capable of defending itself, then we will crush the pirates with ease and be able to focus on Harbinger, and finally kill it" she raised her hand and clenched her fingers into a fist when stating they would kill Harbinger, Miranda spotted the flash of red in her eyes, but was seemingly the only one.

"Agreed, rally all ships to the Citadel, we will close the arms to protect the few civilians that have begun to settle on it" the Asari spoke.

"Latest reports suggest we have two days until the pirate fleet is fully assembled and makes its assault, until then prepare for war" the Turian finished her sentence as the council images faded, followed quickly by the other races, leaving the Normandy crew members alone.

"Harbinger, the greatest Reaper, an honourable opponent" Javik said walking out of the QEC, followed by Wrex who grunted in approval of Javik's statement, Tali looked at the General.

"What do we do now?" she asked, a hint of nerves in her voice.

"Simple, we prepare for hell, again" Liara said accompanying Tali out of the QEC, followed soon after by EDI.

"Joker, get us back to the Citadel ASAP" Shepard barked over the intercom to the pilot, Joker grumbled a response that was incomprehensible. Miranda looked at Shepard, a glint of excitement in her eyes.

"What is it?" Shepard asked, inquiring into why Miranda was the only cheerful one on the brink of another devastating war.

"I just threw up again" she said smiling. Shepard tilted her head.

"And that's something to be excited about?" she asked, completely unable to read what her fiancée was implying.

"Remember how we've had sex several times now, and I'm no longer sterile…" Miranda started, hoping Shepard would catch on, but she remained confused, "well throwing up is usually one of the first signs of pregnancy, so…" Miranda continued, but Shepard cut in.

"Doesn't it take a few weeks for that symptom to appear, not a few days?"

Miranda giggled, "Shepard I'm genetically perfect, knowing my father's ideas on his legacy he may have arrogantly given me a faster reproductive system, so the symptoms may appear quicker than usual, that or the fact there's something different with you. Either way I feel confident that I may be pregnant." Miranda was clearly obsessed with this idea.

Shepard smiled, "let's make sure before we jump to any conclusions, besides it's about time I had that check up with Chakwas and Michel regarding my condition, you can accompany me" Shepard crooked her elbow out and Miranda threaded her arm through the hole, they walked arm in arm to the medical bay. When they entered the two doctors greeted them warmly.

"What can we do for you two ladies?" Michel chirped cheerfully.

"Miranda wants a pregnancy test, and I need a full check-up. Miranda's worried I may have something sinister from surviving the old Citadel's explosion" Shepard stated.

Chakwas raised an eyebrow in Miranda's direction, "pregnant, a few days after we found out you were no longer sterile, aren't you eager Commander" the doctors chuckled as Michel walked over to the draws and withdrew a small box.

"This should do Commander, it will provide quick accurate results" she said as she handed the box to Miranda.

"Before you run off" Shepard said, grabbing Miranda's arm, "help me with this check-up would you" she said as she undid her Alliance jacket, Miranda sighed reluctantly and locked the med bay door and blacked out the windows, granting them some privacy.

"All right commander, if you would please take off your trousers as well we can begin" Michel said tapping on her holographic clipboard, Shepard flashed a look at Chakwas who nodded, and Shepard removed her trousers in one fluid movement, Michel gasped when she saw the general's bulge.

"The general is a natural hermaphrodite with a functioning penis Chloe, though I don't remember it being that big when I last examined you" Chakwas said reassuring Michel and questioning the general who shrugged innocently.

"Could you please focus doctors" Miranda said hurriedly, as they felt the Normandy jolt slightly, evidentially they had reached the Citadel.

"Of course Commander, this shouldn't take long" Michel said confidentially as she took a few scans of the general's body. Chakwas withdrew a small surgical needle and the general complied by holding out her right arm, the doctor took a small sample of blood and applied medi-gel to the injection site, she took the sample to the microscope and analysed it for a moment.

Michel spoke up, "well your physical scans indicate nothing out of the ordinary" she said cheerily, Chakwas quickly chimed in.

"And I can see no abnormalities with your blood cells, it will take longer to run a full evaluation however, and psychological scan will require a more suited facility than the Normandy."

"Thank you doctors, please do run the full blood tests, and I'll seek a psychological profiling when I've dealt with the current crisis I assure you" Shepard said quickly redressing.

Once dressed she took Miranda's arm and the couple walked out of the med bay, going their separate ways in the lift, Shepard got off on the main floor, whilst Miranda continued up to their cabin, to use their private bathroom, Shepard was immediately met by Traynor who looked slightly flustered.

"General, it seems since your conversation with the ringleader, the pirates have advanced their plans, they'll be in the system within a few hours, I've already alerted the other fleets and Admiral Hackett, and they are awaiting you in the QEC" Shepard nodded and walked quickly to the QEC. When she entered Hackett and the other Admirals were deep in a debate.

"… and that's why we should keep the arms open" a Turian said before she noticed Shepard's presence.

"General, we were just discussing a battle plan, we know Harbinger is key, but we are in disagreement concerning the Citadel" Hackett said, summarising their argument for her, there was a moment's silence before Shepard spoke.

"I say we keep them open, but at the first sign of the pirate's trying to move on it, we close the arms until the battle is over, if the pirates see it open, they may get over confident and split their forces to try and take it, providing us with an opportunity to divide and conquer them."

The other admirals nodded in agreement, Shepard noticed Han'Gerrel, the Quarian admiral in charge of their Heavy Fleet, "the next matter that needs to be discussed is whether we kill or capture the pirates, what does Aria want?"

Shepard scoffed, "who cares what she wants, these pirates are no longer under her control, it's unlikely they will fall in line with her again, and…"

"I think I would argue differently" Aria said walking serenely into the QEC and standing beside Shepard, "the pirates understand strength, if you take out their strongest ships they will flee, and I doubt you will be able to capture any of them" Aria continued, "I'm sending data on their strongest ships, take them and Harbinger out and they will flee to save their asses, and likely come crawling back to me, then I'll make them fall in line under Shepard."

Shepard could feel the admirals, including Hackett, looking at her percularly,

"Alright…" Han'Gerrel said breaking the awkward moment, "destroy the strongest ships, leave the rest, what about our formation?" there was another pause, before a Geth next to Han'Gerrel spoke.

"Creator Gerrel, we have analysed previous battles against both pirates and Reapers, and would advise a more spread out formation, to prevent casualties from Harbinger's attacks."

"Thank you Centurion" Han'Gerrel said to the Geth, who nodded in response, Shepard looked at the Quarian curiously.

"Centurion?" she asked the admiral,

"it was Raan's idea, she named it after a similar Earth term for a soldier, is it accurate?" Shepard nodded.

"Back to the matter in hand, we will spread our forces out along the Accretion Disc, providing maximum defensive support to our forces as well as keeping us close to the Citadel" Hackett stated, the admirals nodded.

"All ships will be spread out, no divisions between races, that would only help their needs more than ours" an Asari said boldly.

"That settles the matter then?" a Salarian asked, clearly impatient to stop talking and get on with it, Hackett nodded and his hologram faded, followed quickly by the others, Shepard turned to Aria as the last admiral's hologram faded.

"You really want to unite the pirates under me?" she asked, not believing what Aria had said in the meeting.

"No, I want them back under my heel, and I now follow you remember" Aria said tapping her skull, Shepard remembered the control chip. "Giving you both the criminal gangs, and underworld at your metal finger tips."

"Sounds good, by the way you can…" Shepard's sentence was interrupted as the Normandy rocked violently to one side before righting itself, there followed the sounds of heavy cannon fire before the noises faded. "Joker report" Shepard yelled at the silence, Joker quickly responded.

"Advanced pirate scouting party, took a shot at us before the Alliance ships tore it to pieces, I'm guessing they still got word back to the rest of them, and your mother called, she wants to meet face to face, shall I dock with the Orizaba?" Shepard paused, it had been a very long time since she had seen her mother, and her reply came out of her mouth before she had really thought about it.

"Of course, and have her escorted up to my cabin."

Without another word Shepard sprinted to the lift and into her cabin, where she found Miranda pacing by her desk, holding a pregnancy testing kit in her hands.

"Hey beautiful, my mother will be paying us a visit, sorry to jump this on you I just…" Shepard was interrupted by Miranda holding her hand up and looking at the kit.

"Negative, I was so sure, I…" Miranda quickly put a hand to her mouth and stepped into the bathroom and locked the door, Shepard heard the sound of her fiancée throwing up, as she felt the Normandy dock with the Orizaba,  _that was quick_ , she thought to herself.


	16. Shepard!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shepard's mother pays a visit

Chapter XVI: Shepard!

The cabin door opened and in walked Hannah Shepard, Georgia stepped quickly forward and hugged her mother, for the first time in what was technically two lifetimes, or five years, then kissed her on the cheek, Hannah reciprocated the affection.

"It's so good to see you again" Hannah said, holding her baby girl in her arms.

"It's been far too long since we last saw each other" Georgia replied as the stepped apart, Georgia led her mother down the steps to the small sofa, and together they sat down opposite each other around the small coffee table.

"I won't ask how have you been, since I know you Spectres are all hush hush, secret this and covert that, but I will say I'm glad you're still mostly in one piece," Hannah said, spotting the metal arm, Georgia blushed.

"Yeah about that" Georgia started, unsure of how best to phrase what she had to say, "you remember when I went silent after the Battle of the Citadel" she continued, Hannah nodded.

"Of course, I was worried something had happened to you, Hackett stonewalled me, and I got nothing from Alliance command, rumour said you were dead, what happened?" Hannah gave Georgia a look only a concerned mother could give; Georgia took a deep breath and stated.

"I did die, in the Collector attack that destroyed the Normandy SR-1." Hannah gasped.

"Then how are you alive now?" she asked, notes of fear, upset and confusion in her voice. On cue, Miranda left the bathroom and joined the two Shepards, sitting next to Georgia, but waiting to put an arm around her.

"Miranda this is my mother Hannah, mom this is Miranda," Hannah shook hands with Miranda before Georgia continued. "Miranda headed a Cerberus operation that basically brought me back to life, The Illusive Man wanted me to come back and stop the Collector's attacks on human colonies, and spared no expense in making sure I was the same Commander Shepard that had defeated Saren." Georgia explained to her mother, who listened attentively.

"Whilst fighting the Collectors, me and Miranda grew close, eventually becoming girlfriends, shortly before destroying the Collector base and basically telling the Illusive Man to go fuck himself."

The three women laughed at this idea and Miranda took the opportunity to grab a bottle of wine and three glasses, pouring them each a glass, before wrapping an arm over Georgia's shoulder.

"As you can tell we remained a couple, but kept it quiet during my tribunal." Georgia continued. "However during the Reaper war, we met up again and rekindled the flame, eventually teaming up to take down Miranda's father Henry Lawson, who had used refugees at Sanctuary to study Reaper indoctrination.

"Without Miranda's help, I wouldn't have been able to find and destroy the Cerberus base, or find out what the Catalyst was in time to stop the Reapers" Georgia continued.

"I heard about Sanctuary, and my ship was one of the few that Hackett sent against the Cerberus base" Hannah quickly mentioned, "I'm glad you two were able to work together so well." Miranda and Georgia smiled, giving each other a quick kiss before Georgia continued.

"Thanks mom." Georgia blushed. "well after we destroyed Cerberus, Miranda and I were separated on the attack on Earth, I lead Hammer assault, whilst Miranda and a band of mercenaries performed their own attacks on the remaining Cerberus hold outs."

Miranda smiled as she remembered her merc group's activities, before they had joined the assault on Earth, Georgia continued telling her story.

"Then my memory gets hazy, I remember going up to the Citadel and opening the arms for the Crucible, then its blank, then I remember a searing green light before I woke up on the medical facility aboard the SSV London."

Hannah held a hand up to her mouth, "my god, were you alright?"

Miranda now spoke up, "Georgia was alive, but not alright, most of her flesh, muscle and nerves were gone, several vital organs were near dead, and she was missing her left arm and lower legs, Hackett bailed me from a holding facility to once again bring Shepard back, but at a more restricted budget."

Georgia lifted her trouser legs up to reveal the metal legs, before showing a bit more of her metal left arm.

"It wasn't pretty, but I was glad she was alive. I hadn't realised until the moment I saw her remains in the hospital bed, how much I cared for her, and I did my utmost to bring the Shepard I loved back." Miranda said, nuzzling her head on Georgia's shoulder.

"After about a year, as I was leaving the medical ship, Aria's thugs attacked it, trying to kill me, they failed, and were destroyed by a Reaper, not before sending the SSV London plummeting to Mars" Georgia continued, looking at the look of shock that appeared on her mother's face.

"And that's about everything, since then we've mainly been fighting the pirates. I also got to name the new citadel wards, we were promoted and most importantly…" Georgia and Miranda held up their hands, "we got engaged." Hannah leapt up and hugged them, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Oh I'm so happy for you, I'm glad you've found happiness together, you two deserve each other" Hannah said exasperated as they hugged.

"Thanks mom, Hackett said he's put a friend of his in charge of the wedding, but hasn't said when it will be yet" Georgia said cheerfully, Hannah sighed.

"Hackett is always so mysterious, but someone of his stature and fame needs to have secrets" Hannah said, wiping the tears from her eyes. As she stopped a familiar voice spoke from behind them.

"Shepard" Georgia and Hannah responded instinctively at the same time,

"yes?" Before laughing at the moment, Hackett did not share their enthusiasm.

"Commander, General, Admiral" he said greeting the three women, who saluted him when their rank was mentioned.

"What can we do for you admiral?" Miranda asked quickly.

"I thought I'd personally check you were alive after that pirate scouting attack, and to also give you these." Hackett handed them a couple of small parcels which had been tied together carefully.

"What are they?" Hannah asked, slightly concerned.

"They're your wedding clothes, and for your information, the wedding will take place in two days' time, if we survive the coming battle, which I've heard marines already calling The Battle of the Core." Miranda put the parcels down to one side as the Shepards stared at Hackett, it was the first time they had heard him being bitter and slightly annoyed, he was usually so calm and measured.

"Anything else grand admiral?" Hannah asked, trying to shift the conversation onward.

"That'll be all, good evening Shepards" Hackett said, quickly turning and leaving without another word, there was a pause after the door closed behind him.

"Wow, I've never seen him like that" Hannah said stunned.

"I think we upset him" Georgia said, before the three of them sat down and each picked up their wine glass.

"Well, here's to you two, may you have a wonderful life together, with many happy years" Hannah said raising her glass in a toast.

"Cheers" the three of them said, tapping their glasses together, and quickly downing the wine.

"Anyone else note how Hackett said 'Shepards' not 'Shepards and Lawson'" Miranda noted, quickly refilling their glasses.

"Well, technically you're no longer a Lawson, you're becoming a Shepard in a few days" Georgia said, pulling Miranda closer to her.

"Not if I decide to keep my surname" Miranda said confidentially, Hannah chuckled.

"And be Lawson Shepard, doesn't sound right, no offense. Besides, there always needs to be a Commander Shepard" she took a sip from her glass to stop herself laughing.

"I suppose, besides being the wife of the galaxy's greatest hero will be more rewarding with just the 'Shepard' surname" Miranda said, her eyes glazing over dreamily, Hannah giggled.

"You should see the fame I get for being her mother" the three giggled merrily.

It was now that Miranda saw how similar the two were in appearance, apart from Hannah's short grey hair and other signs of a well lived life, and Georgia's metal replacements, they were almost identical, she felt that the Shepard gene must be quite distinctive, and that when they had children, they may possess some of the family traits.

The next three hours passed in mixture of talk about weddings, military service, children and childhood and wine, soon Hannah was requested back aboard the Orizaba, much to their annoyance.

"well I've had a wonderful evening, it's been nice to catch up with my only daughter, and to meet my future daughter in law," Hannah said hugging Georgia and Miranda, "we must do this again sometime after the wedding, when everything settles down again, maybe even with the other female members of your crew" she continued, "but for now duty calls, good-bye darlings."

The tender moment was ruined however moments later by Miranda running off to the nearest bathroom, clearly still feeling unwell, suddenly Joker yelled from the cockpit.

"Shepard! Come quickly."


	17. The Battle of the Core

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Citadel & The Normandy Versus Harbinger & The Pirates

Chapter XVII: The Battle of the Core.

As Shepard entered the cockpit she saw through the windows what Joker had called her for, the pirates had arrived in full, ahead of the predicted time, and had engaged the New Council fleet. Joker detached from the Orizaba just as it came under fire.

"General, the New Council admirals are hailing you, shall I connect you?" EDI said, striding into the cockpit and sitting in her seat adjacent to Joker.

"Patch them into the cockpit, Joker engage that pirate ship, focus on the cannons" Shepard said pacing from side to side and pointing out one of the pirate flagships which had engaged the Quarian Heavy Fleet.

As the Normandy closed in, holographic projections of the various admirals appeared in the cockpit, followed by Aria and Miranda running in and flanking Shepard.

"They've caught us off guard, but we are holding, where is Harbinger?" the Asari admiral said, as the Normandy blasted the flag ship's main cannon before pulling back again.

"I do not detect Harbinger's signal in the system, it may be that it is waiting for a moment of weakness to strike" EDI responded.

"Then let's not give it a weakness to exploit, all ships defensive formation, do not let them create a weak spot" Hackett ordered, the other admirals nodded and tapped at their omni-tools, before most of their holograms faded, leaving Hackett's and Hannah Shepard's.

"What about the Citadel?" Miranda asked.

"Close it, let's not risk it" Hannah quickly answered, Georgia nodded and Hackett tapped his omni-tool, in the distance, they saw the Citadel beginning to close up.

At that moment Harbinger burst into the system, immediately destroying two frigates with its laser blasts.

"Shit!" Georgia and Hannah exclaimed.

"All ships destroy the pirates main ships then focus on Harbinger, I repeat focus on the pirates then focus on Harbinger! Shepard, capture the key pirate flagship, while we deal with Harbinger." Hackett's sheer determination and dedication were clear.

Shepard nodded as the Normandy turned around and flew towards the largest of the pirate ships, at that moment the Normandy's cockpit was blasted with a brilliant blue light, which forced the occupants to close their eyes, when the light dimmed Joker had to swerve wildly to avoid impacting with the pirate ship, Shepard looked at Miranda and at the holograms, before a haunting voice sounded from behind her.

"You!" it said coldly.

Shepard turned and saw a vision from her nightmare standing in front of her, the 'god-child' from her nightmare was standing in the Normandy's cockpit, glowing slightly green.

"No, it can't be, you're not real, you're not possible" Shepard uttered backing away from it.

"You forgot about us, we are not surprised, organics will always deny the truth if it doesn't conform to their ideals" the child said in its echoey voice.

"But you were destroyed with the Citadel, you shouldn't be here" Shepard said, now fully remembering the conversation between her and the child atop the Citadel, over a year ago.

"My body was destroyed, but my intelligence was transferred to the next strongest compatible technology, which was the one you call Harbinger. I partially shielded it from the synthesis, I survive through it" the god-child said, almost sounding smug.

"General, what are you doing?" Hackett asked.

"Georgia, sweetie, who are you talking to?" Hannah asked, clearly they couldn't see the child, Miranda was watching, also clearly unable to see the god-child.

"Why can't they see you?" Shepard immediately asked.

"Because they do not need to see me" it replied, almost mocking her now.

"I demand you show yourself to them now!" Shepard yelled at the child who nodded solemnly, moments later Miranda and Hannah gasped in slight shock, whereas Hackett seemed concerned.

"Are you an AI?" Miranda asked staring almost through its ghostly form.

"In a sense I am what you would call an AI, but not like any construct you know, I was made by the kind you refer to as Leviathan, to solve the chaos of synthetics destroying organics, our solution was the Reapers" it replied in its usual cold manner.

The Normandy swayed slightly and Shepard and Miranda looked up to see amongst all the frantic ship to ship fighting, one of the Leviathans had charged Harbinger and was essentially wrestling with the Reaper, providing quite a spectacle.

"Are you the one behind the attacks against the Council races?" Hackett asked, and the child nodded.

"When you merged synthetics and organics, our view on the chaos was altered slightly, we now seek the bring order through making all races equal in strength and population. We thought someone like you would not object, the new conflict suggests otherwise." The child tilted its head to one side and stared into Georgia after finishing its statement.

"And the Volus?" Miranda asked, the child looked at her.

"Like Saren or the one you called The Illusive Man, he is merely a public face for our plans" it replied coldly.

"Your plan is now pointless," Shepard stated, regaining the AI's attention, "every race has agreed to an equal sharing of power, without a need for bloodshed, stand down" the last words came out as an order, the child laughed, the reaper part became evident in the reply.

"It will fail." Miranda spoke up again.

"What's wrong with Shepard?" she asked, the question had been eating away at her since she found out she had survived, the child looked curiously at Miranda, then at Georgia before speaking.

"She has become more" it replied bluntly.

"Please clarify what you mean by more?" Hannah asked, flashing an unnoticed look at her daughter.

"She survived the synthesis, her sacrifice is responsible for the organic-synthetic merging, and because of it she is more than merely human" it stated, eyeing the general as it did.

"That doesn't make sense, surely everyone is more now if it's due to the merge" Shepard replied completely annoyed at the child's cryptic answers.

"You are different" it replied quickly, "different how!" Shepard yelled, her temper boiling over, Miranda saw the flash of red in her eyes, but the child spoke before she could speak.

"You were at the heart of the merge, you were more changed by it and by what was used to repair you" the child explained slowly.

"I don't understand, what are you getting at?" Miranda spoke up.

"You used technology copied from my creations did you not?" the child asked turning to Miranda, "the synthesis meant that your body merged the technology with your body, both physically and beyond, in essence you are now what you would call a proto-Reaper, this would also account for the increase in temper and flashes of red." Miranda fell silent, how had it known what she had seen, what she was about to enquire on, Shepard collapsed into a nearby chair, stunned at what had been revealed. The child then faded away, as Hannah spoke.

"Honey it's okay, you're not a Reaper, you're my daughter, I know…" Hannah was interrupted when her ship took a direct blast from Harbinger, who had killed and separated from the Leviathan. Shepard growled in anger. That was her mother it had just attacked.

"Attention all ships" Shepard said over the intercom. "Forget the pirates, focus fire on Harbinger, kill that son of a bitch!" she snarled as Hannah spoke again, clearly in trouble.

"I can do one better Georgia" she said slowly, Georgia looked at her concerned.

"What?" she asked cautiously. Out of the window she could see her mother's ship on fire, heavily scarred, but still moving, closing in on Harbinger.

"I reckon that leviathan weakened it, enough for me to finish it off" she said, confidence waning in her voice, "but the Orizaba's weaponry if kaput, I'm going to have to finish it the old fashioned way" Georgia saw her mother smile cruelly for the first time ever.

"Hannah there has to be another way" Hackett said, he sounded clearly concerned.

"Yeah mom, please! I want you to be there at my wedding, to be a grandmother to our children, please don't do this" Georgia said, starting to sob as tears formed in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry honey, there's no alternative, I have to do it" Hannah replied, also clearly starting to cry.

"But…" Georgia started but Hannah's holographic image held a hand to her lips.

"I'm a Shepard, like your father, like you, when we bow out we take the enemy down with us. For my family…" Hannah's image cut out.

There was a brief silence before Shepard burst into tears and curled up, seated on the floor, not wanting to watch as the Orizaba collided with Harbinger, the ship's hull cutting through the Reaper's frame. A loud terrible shriek echoed through the vacuum of space, followed by a split second of silence, before the ancient menace, and the ship that had impaled it, exploded, emitting a shockwave that emanated from the impact zone.

Miranda darted to hold her fiancée as the shockwave smashed into every ship it touched, expanding to a great distance, before retracting into a colossal explosion. When the shockwave hit the Normandy, Georgia screamed, her entire body felt like it was on fire, she was in unbearable agony, before she blacked out.


	18. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath is great for Shepard

Chapter XVIII: Aftermath.

She awoke to find herself in the Normandy med bay, surrounded by her entire crew, Hackett and Aria, all except the last seemed genuinely concerned. Relief washed over them when she opened her eyes and looked around, she felt someone tighten their grip on her left hand. Miranda leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, she could see tear marks etched on her beautiful face with mascara smears, the crew cheered when she sat up and Hackett saluted her.

"Welcome to a new dawn General" he said as he resumed his stance, "the pirate threat has vanished, and Harbinger is at last dead" he summarised, a smile forming on the war beaten face.

"The 'pirate threat'" Aria chided, "is safely back under my control, when Harbinger exploded they contacted me and the admiral, begging for peace and to return under by heel" Aria smiled now as she emphasized the last comment, Chakwas quickly added,

"And it seems any traces of you being part-Reaper have gone, you're one hundred per cent human General". An awkward silence set in.

"And my mom?" Shepard asked cautiously, the silence remained over the group, none of them wanting to answer, and Miranda grasping her metal hand clasped it even tighter. "Someone please tell me, did Hannah survive, did anyone make it off the Orizaba before it collided with Harbinger" Shepard asked quickly, propping herself up with her right hand.

"Georgia, I'm so sorry, she's gone" Miranda said embracing her tightly, the news was deeply upsetting for her to hear.

Her body started shaking and tears burst from her eyes, and she cried aloud on Miranda's shoulder, the crew looking on, many also had tears in their eyes, upset by the loss of the Admiral, but also at seeing their brave general Shepard completely distraught and broken by the news.

Hackett muttered, "I think you are excused" the crew members nodded and silently filed out, as did Aria and the doctors, leaving the three commanding officers, Shepard still wailing and sobbing into her fiancée's arms, Miranda was crying whilst caressing her love. Hackett waited patiently for the general to regain some of her composure before speaking.

"The entire Alliance military shares in your feelings Georgia, your mother was a brave woman, a warrior till the end" he said slowly, Miranda wiped the tears from Georgia's eyes with her fingers, as they looked at the Grand Admiral.

"What else did we lose?" Shepard said shakily, Hackett took a moment.

"Two Quarian frigates, three Turian frigates, an Asari destroyer and ten Alliance cruisers, the pirate losses were far more severe however, but once more we are at peace, thanks to the sacrifice of many, including Hannah, we finally have what seems to be a lasting peace."

Shepard nodded, she understood what her mother had died for, but she didn't like losing her mother so unexpectedly, she had been one of the only stable figures in her life, now there was just Miranda, at this thought she held her fiancée closer to her, like she didn't want her to slip away as well.

Hackett could tell Shepard needed to be left alone, he always had an inkling into his place in situations, and now he was needed elsewhere, he saluted the embraced couple and quickly left, Miranda hugged her fiancée tightly, feeling her reciprocating this action, though she felt upset over the loss of her future mother-in-law, she knew it was nothing compared to how her Georgia felt.

"Georgia… sweetie" Miranda whispered slowly, but re-assuredly into her ear, "I know you're upset, and you want to mourn Hannah, but do we have to stay in the med bay, this chair isn't exactly comfy" Miranda's voice slowly grew more jokey in tone, which got the desired effect on Georgia, who chuckled slightly.

"Yeah, let's go to our quarters, more privacy" she replied, her old self slowly returning. They held each other's hands and walked slowly to the lift, as they did; various nameless crew members saluted her before offering condolences, though she had never spoken to any of them, she appreciated their support.

When the lift door opened they saw something that took their minds off Georgia's loss, Liara had Aria cornered in a corner of the lift. The two Asari were engaged in a passionate kiss, with Liara seeming to be the more dominant, but they broke off the kiss when they felt Miranda and Georgia staring at them, Liara blushed when she saw them and tried to regain her composure.

"What?" Aria asked bluntly, "you got a problem with me and the Shadow Broker here being in love?" she asked curtly, the two women shook their heads and let the Asari out before stepping into the lift, as the doors closed, Aria managed to say "sorry 'bout your loss, I…" before Liara dragged her out of sight,

"Well that was unexpected" Miranda said in the calm silence of the lift as it rose to their quarters.

As they entered Shepard spotted a small box on the desk and ran quickly over to it, she found an empty pregnancy testing kit box with two used ones lying next to it, both reading 'Negative', she turned to see Miranda smiling coquettishly.

"Miri, I'm so sorry" Georgia started, pointing at the used kits. "What are you smiling about?" Miranda's smile grew as she withdrew a third kit from her back pocket.

"I'm pregnant" she said before embracing Georgia in a bone-breaking hug, Georgia was awash with numerous emotions, happiness for her and Miranda's future, distraught over her mother's death and nervous about their wedding which was set for tomorrow, if the clock on her desk was to be believed.

"Truly we are blessed" Georgia beamed, giving Miranda a quick peck on the cheek, "we're getting married tomorrow, we're going to have a family and the galaxy is at peace for the first time in years, how could things be any better?" Georgia's jovial mood was broken when reality dragged her back down, "but Hannah won't be here to see it."

Tears burst from her eyes, the emotional loss was far too raw for her at the moment, and she wept into Miranda's shoulder once more, Miranda just held her fiancée tenderly in her arms, stroking the general's short black hair.


	19. The Galaxy's Greatest Wedding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> General Georgia and Commander Miranda Shepard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -AN-
> 
> Most of this chapter is Wedding related waffle, but there are other story points among the waffle, bear with it.

Chapter XIX: The Galaxy's Greatest Wedding.

The next day started with Miranda gently slipping out of bed before Georgia woke, and quickly grabbed her wedding dress and left the Normandy, she knew the tradition and thought it would make the day more special if she honoured it.

Georgia woke an hour later and instinctively tried to lean closer to Miranda, but felt no warmth and in her sleep-induced state rolled too far, and fell off the bed with a loud thud. The fall quickly restored her senses and she got up, rubbing her sore limbs, she looked around for her fiancée and mumbled when she couldn't see her. She stopped when she saw the missing bag with the wedding clothes in it, and the memory hit her in a hurricane of emotions, it was her wedding day, she was getting married to the most beautiful woman in the world, who was carrying her child, but her mother was gone.

She fought to keep her emotions in check, it was her big day and she knew deep down her mother wouldn't want her being an emotional wreck on the happiest day of her life. As she fought the sadness that lingered in her mind, Samara walked in, clearly already dressed for the wedding, wearing her black Justicar outfit, with a silver version of her collar around her neck, she practically glowed, she walked serenely across the room and ushered Georgia to the sofa and sat down with her before speaking.

"Shepard I know how you feel, the loss of one so close is a great burden to bare, especially with this momentous day following so close in its wake" she said in a soft melodic tone.

Shepard looked deep into Samara's eyes, as she looked into hers, the Asari reading the emotional storm that was conveyed in the glowing green eyes, "but I have learnt that letting your emotions control you is dangerous, do not linger on it or you will be lost to the sadness," Samara continued in the soft tone, "and I don't think Miranda would be happy if you let the loss of your mother dampen you today."

Georgia was stunned, firstly by Samara's tone shifting to lighter, jokey one and the fact she had used Miranda's first name, instead of Ms Lawson.

"Now come on then, it's time we got you ready" Samara finalised resolutely, standing up and pulling Georgia with her by the hands, as Liara, Tali, Traynor, Kasumi and Ashley walked in, all dressed in simple, yet elegant dresses and looking absolutely beautiful, Liara however had a small dark circle on her neck that she was trying desperately to hide.

Georgia smiled as the six women bustled around her, pushing her gently to take a shower before they did her makeup and helped her into her suit, it had been a joke between Miranda and herself, that she would wear the trousers in their relationship, and she had never really liked dresses.

After an hour she was ready to go and the six women accompanied her through the deserted Normandy and on to an equally vacant Citadel, it was eerily quiet as they walked past the embassy area, and into the lift that lead to the Council area.

"Hackett really did go all out didn't he" Georgia commented as the lift ascended quickly, there was a murmur of agreement before Kasumi spoke, her head for once was not hooded, revealing long purple hair and porcelain coloured skin.

"People on the extranet are calling it the Galaxy's greatest wedding, it's getting quite a bit of hype ."

"All this attention for a simple wedding, seems a bit much, I'm getting married to the woman I love, why all the hype?" Georgia responded quickly.

"You're the four-time saviour of the galaxy, the greatest hero who has ever lived, why wouldn't people be attentive when they found out you were getting married" Ashley replied, the others quickly agreed, but Georgia was still curious.

"What are people's opinions of Miranda?" she asked the master thief.

"Most are jealous that she's with you" Kasumi replied in an upbeat tone, "some don't like you marrying an ex-Cerberus war criminal, and a small majority want her dead, but don't say why."

Silence washed over them as the doors opened and they stepped out, the new Citadel Council chambers were almost completely different to the last time she had been here, the central pathway was flanked on either side by masses of people, dressed in their finery, engaged in numerous conversations, amongst row upon row of seats, the stairs up to the council area had been altered slightly, and where once had been a balustrade between two staircases, was now a level ramp, with a small podium at the top, the large windows behind the council podium looked out on to the vast stars at the center of the galaxy, basking the entire area in a golden glow, it was such a perfect sight that Georgia was left speechless.

"Definitely showing off" Ashley said, not realising she had spoken out loud, she blushed at looked at the others, "well they are, they've gone to all this trouble just for you skipper" she blurted defensively.

They took a moment to judge her before they continued moving into the throng of people, Georgia recognised high ranking members of each race, and many people she had befriended during her entire career, from Elysium to Ilos, from Freedom's Progress to Reaper-controlled Earth, including everyone who had served on the Normandy and survived. She was almost overwhelmed by the memories, it took only one person to notice her before everyone was applauding her and surging forward to shake her hand and congratulate her.

The six women around her moved as one, allowing people to greet the General but keeping her moving through the crowd to the podium. Georgia was flattered by the praise what was lavished upon her by the crowd, and happy to see many people she knew, including a certain Salarian.

She directed her guards towards him and the crowd quickly returned to talking amongst each other as the group approached the Salarian who was standing away from everyone else, seeming quite content by himself.

"Major Kirrahe, so good to see you again" Shepard said, pushing aside her guards and shaking hands with the major who she had worked closely with on two occasions.

"General, good to see you to" the Major said, shaking her hand warmly, "seems we finally get to meet in a time of peace for once" he said in his upbeat tone, the commander smiled as Liara and Tali also greeted the major.

"Why aren't you socializing?" Liara asked.

"Too risky, have to stay alert" he replied quickly looking around the room.

"Alert for what?" Georgia asked perplexed by his reply.

"Hackett personally asked my team to act as security, in case someone tries to kill you or your fiancée." Shepard smiled warmly and hugged the Salarian, who was stunned for a moment before briefly reciprocating the hug.

"Wouldn't want anyone else guarding my back today" she said, again shaking his hand before heading for the podium, as people took their seats.

She looked around at the people closer to the podium, James, Wrex and Joker were her 'groomsmen', with Tali, Liara and EDI as bridesmaids, rest of the crew took up the first two rows of seating, each in suits or dresses, including Javik. She had personally chosen Garrus as her 'best man' because he was the closest thing to a brother that she had, despite the species difference, he stood at her side in a fine black suit and tie, designed for Turians, he seemed proud of his position in the ceremony.

A band started playing a melodic tune, and she turned slightly and a cruel smile spread across her face, Jack and Aria were walking down the aisle sprinkling flowers on the ground, Georgia tried hard not to burst out laughing at the almost adorable sight, clearly Hackett had blackmailed them into it as a bit of fun, both of them wearing elegant dresses, Jack's covered most of her body, which was a rather unusual sight to see on the ex-convict.

They quickly took their seat as a familiar tune began playing, the gathered guests stood and turned to face the lift, as Miranda walked slowly down the aisle, in a beautiful white silken dress, with fine green etchings, that extenuated her glowing green eyes. Jacob walked at her side, holding her arm; Georgia thought it fitting since Miranda had killed her father, so he was the next logical choice. Following close behind them, as Miranda's maid of honour, walked her younger twin sister Orianna, in a simpler version of Miranda's dress, when Miranda was beside her, Georgia turned to see Hackett standing behind the podium, in an old fashioned looking black suit and tie, with his Admiral stripes visible on the pocket, ' _figures he'd conduct the service_ ' she thought,  _'but I wouldn't have it any other way_ '.

Georgia and Miranda's fingers slowly intertwined as Hackett spoke.

"Before I begin proceedings, let us have a moment of silence on this joyous day, for those who could not be here, and who died defending the peace against the pirate's tyranny."

The room fell silent and many bowed their heads, Georgia felt Miranda tighten her hand around her own, silently giving her support, as the memory of her mother's absence washed over her again, but she fought the feeling and focused on the others who were not here, but not dwelling on any of them for too long, Hackett spoke after the customary two minutes of silence.

"Now let us begin…" he said drawing everyone's attention back to the ceremony.

"We are gathered here today in the face of this company, to join together Georgia Shepard and Miranda Lawson in matrimony; which is an honourable and solemn estate and therefore is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently and soberly. Into this estate these two persons present come now to be joined. If anyone can show just cause why they may not be lawfully joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace." Shepard expected no objections but that was quickly broken.

"I object" a gruff voice from the back of the room said loudly, she turned and saw a ghost from her past limping slowly up the aisle, someone she had thought was dead, she felt her jaw drop.

Her father, John Shepard, looking weary, tired and far greyer than she remembered, hobbled up the aisle to numerous whispers and murmurs from the crowd; he was dressed in a ragged military uniform that had seen better days, his body supported by an equally battered walking stick. Georgia quickly turned to look at Hackett, who seemed as shocked as she was.

"Dad?" she managed to say, causing the entire crowd to gasp and stare at the old man.

"Hello Geo" he said in a gruff tone, his eyes looking deep into her own, "sorry I'm late" he continued, smiling weakly at his comment. The room fell silent.

"How…What…" she stuttered, numerous questions begging to be asked, "Where have you been all this time?" she said hugging her father tightly, fighting back tears.

"Long story, I'll explain later" he replied embracing his daughter tightly.

"How'd you know where to find me?" she asked pulling away from her father, he smiled.

"How could I miss my daughter, if she's at the center of the galaxy's greatest wedding, when I heard, I knew I had to be here." At this moment he noticed the admiral, he quickly saluted Hackett who saluted back, "Admiral, nice to see you" John said smiling at Hackett.

"Commander, is there a reason you object to the union?" Hackett responded.

"I don't, but I felt it a good time to make myself known, continue" John replied in his gruff tone before hobbling to a seat beside Wrex, when he sat down he smiled at his daughter and nodded for Hackett to continue.

"Is there anyone who feels these two should not be joined, speak now or forever hold your peace" Hackett reiterated.

There was a commotion before someone broke through the gathering, Georgia recognised the Volus who had been behind the pirate attack, as he charged up the aisle pointing a gun at her head.

"I object" he screamed as he closed in, Shepard grabbed fiancée and twisted her round so she was protecting Miranda, as three shots rang out, the crowd screamed, before there were two small explosions.

Georgia opened her eyes slowly, and saw Miranda's loving eyes looking back at her, they quickly straightened up and looked around, the Volus had fired a shot but it had missed and sailed harmlessly past them, the other two shots had come from Kirrahe, who still stood at the other end of the aisle, pointing his pistol at the Volus' corpse, his shots had ripped the Volus' suit open.

"Sorry about that, should have been more attentive about the guests" Kirrahe said apologetically as he and one other STG guard lifted the corpse up and carried it out of sight. The crowd turned back to Hackett who resumed the ceremony.

"Who gives this woman to be married to this woman?" Hackett asked gesturing to Miranda.

"I do" Orianna replied as Miranda's only living relative.

"Then the bride is given away" Hackett stated before turning to Georgia. "Georgia Shepard, do you take Miranda Lawson to be your lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?" Georgia smiled and stared deeply into her love's eyes.

"I do" she said. Hackett then turned to Miranda.

"Miranda Lawson, do you take Georgia Shepard to be your lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?" he asked, Miranda responded instantaneously.

"I do."

"Bring forth the rings" Hackett said authoritatively, Garrus and Orianna stepped forward and presented two identical rings, made of interlacing gold and lightweight Silaris metal, embedded with sparkling diamonds. "May this ring be blessed so she who gives it and she who wears it may abide in peace, and continue to love until life's end." Hackett said as Orianna handed the ring to Georgia who then spoke the next line.

"With this ring I thee wed. Wear it as a symbol of our love and commitment." She said slipping the ring on to Miranda's finger.

Miranda then took the ring from Garrus and followed the same ritual, slipping the ring on to Georgia's finger, before Hackett spoke again.

"May this couple be prepared to continue to give, be able to forgive and experience more and more joy with each passing day, with each passing year. Georgia and Miranda, are now beginning their married life together, we hope that they may have loving assistance from their family, the constant support of friends, and a long life with good health and everlasting love. In so much as Georgia and Miranda have consented to live forever together in wedlock, and have witnessed the same before this company, having given and pledged their troth, each to the other, and having declared same by the giving and receiving of a ring."

He paused, "I pronounce that they are a married couple, you may now kiss."

Miranda and Georgia embraced in a loving kiss, to the applause and cheering of the gathered guests, Hackett managed to speak over the tumult to finish the formal proceedings.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the loving couple Mrs Georgia and Miranda Shepard" before he joined the applause.

The now married couple parted lips and smiled at the cheering crowd, and walked down the aisle, arms wrapped around the other's waist, and into the lift. The reception had been prepared in the cargo bay of the Normandy.

When the Shepards arrived there; they found all the wedding guests waiting for them, as they had taken the scenic route, to allow for the guests to greet them at the reception, as well as changing into less formal attire.


	20. Reception

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their eventful wedding reception

Chapter XX: Reception.

Georgia and Miranda entered to the renewed applause of the guests, the cargo bay had been completely cleared of cargo, the shuttles and armoury, replaced with numerous tabled, chairs and a large dance floor with DJ booth, the lift was firmly locked as a security measure.

The meal followed the same formal format as the wedding ceremony, after all the speeches and the meal, Miranda and Georgia lead the move to the dance floor, as a childhood favourite song of Georgia's began to play. The two embraced and slowly danced together as a slow piano version of 'On The Wings Of Love' by Jeffrey Osborne played.

"Always imagined this song would be played at my wedding, I never realised how fitting it would be for us" Georgia whispered into her wife's ear as they slowly danced, Miranda smiled and kissed her lovingly. When the song ended they embraced in a kiss again before John Shepard stepped in.

"Mind if I have the next dance, my daughter in law?" he asked Miranda, "of course dad, as long as I get a dance with you after" she said smiling, and moving off to dance with her sister. Georgia held her father's hand for the first time in what was a lifetime, as a highly appropriate song began playing, 'Dance With My Father' by Luther Vandross, Georgia looked over at the DJ, seeing it was Jack, who smiled at her and nodded.

Georgia held her father close as the deeply emotional song played.

"I'm so happy to see you again" she breathed as they moved in time with the music.

"So am I sweetie, so am I, I wish that we were reunited sooner but destiny decided today was the day we would be together again" he said in her ear, "I'm glad you've found someone special, you two deserve each other." Georgia then asked the question that had plagued her since his return.

"What happened to you?" she asked looking at her father.

"Let us go somewhere private to talk about this" he said weakly, leading her off the dance floor and into a quiet corner table, groaning as he sat down. Before he could start talking Hackett walked over and sat down with them.

"I'm guessing you want to know where I've been as well." John asked Hackett who nodded tersely in response, "well my last report to Alliance High Command put me in the recapture of Shanxi, as I'm sure you're aware, but I didn't die, I was wounded and took refuge on the planet, when humanity made peace with the Turians, I decided to remain hidden on Shanxi, adopting an alias and creating a new life for myself, or so I thought" John started.

"I was approached by a man later that year, offering a chance to 'truly represent humanity's best interests' I unknowingly accepted, I helped found Cerberus" at this moment Miranda sat next to Georgia as she stared at her father with disbelief.

"You did what?" John held his hands up trying to calm his daughter.

"Let me explain please Georgia, I helped found it and guide it early on, even partially funding a certain, Project Lazarus," Miranda and Georgia smiled at John who smiled back before continuing. "But after the so called Illusive Man used you to get the data on Collectors, without caring if you lived or died, I quit, which pissed him off. I fled to Omega and he responded months later with that invasion, I kept myself hidden, but I kept appraised of your movements, I wanted so badly to see you, but I knew if I blew my cover I'd be killed."

"How did you keep the name your name out of any Cerberus files?" Miranda asked, curious about how he had remained hidden.

"My dear, if the Alliance believes you are dead or MIA, Cerberus won't suspect a fake alias that coincides with my service record, plus the Illusive Man helped hide my presence, believing I'd be a secret weapon, until that weapon stabbed him in the back."

He chuckled, but Hackett's stare quickly cut his laugh off, "any way when you broke the Cerberus occupation I was over the moon, but you left before I could contact you. From then until now I've kept my head down on that infernal space station, when you visited it again, I decided to jump ship so to speak, I stowed aboard one of the pirate warships and when they arrived in the system I used an escape pod and crashed on the Citadel before it closed, from there it was simply find my way through the place till I heard of your wedding, and you can guess the rest."

John sighed, seemingly relieved to have got that story off his chest, Georgia was amazed at her father, as was Miranda, but Hackett was concerned.

"You will need to fill in several forms and appear before an enquiry about your involvement with Cerberus, but I'm glad to see you again old friend" Hackett stated before embracing John in a hug, Georgia saw a genuine smile appear on the Admiral's face as he embraced her father, John was also smiling.

"I'm glad I survived too Steven" John said as they parted, "and I'm happy to see you're still alive after I funded your resurrection" he said looking at his daughter with a glint in his eyes, "and I'm glad to meet the woman who was put in charge of your resurrection, who's rightfully my daughter in law" John said happily hugging Miranda.

John was about to lead Miranda out on to the dance floor for the promised dance, but Georgia grabbed his hand tightly.

"Before you go, I think I have something to tell you" she said, her voice shaking slightly, her father sat down opposite her again and held her hands in his own.

"What is it?" he asked clearly concerned. Georgia took a breath, she felt Miranda's arm wrap around her waist for support.

"Mom's dead" Georgia said, her eyes watering again, she could see her father starting to cry as well.

"How? When? Where?" he asked quickly, as Georgia flung herself into his arms and wept, Miranda spoke in her stead.

"Yesterday, she sacrificed herself to kill Harbinger, by smashing her ship into it, she died a hero."

"That's my Hannah" he said before weeping with Georgia, Hackett excused himself and re-joined the other guests. John was the first to regain his composure, "hey now, look at me, crying on my daughter's special day, where are my senses, honestly, Hannah wouldn't want us upset on this joyous day, come on now." He wiped away Georgia's tears and she smiled at him.

"Well, we do have some more joyous news for you" Miranda said positively, "I'm pregnant."

John was speechless; his response was to embrace both of them in a surprisingly strong hug for a man his age.

"Oh wonderful news, that's a better thought, come on, I want to dance with my daughter in law" he said cheerily and Miranda helped him to the dance floor, Georgia walked over to Hackett and danced with him.

Mid-way through Garrus requested to speak with her, Hackett again excused himself allowing Garrus to dance with her.

"So" Garrus began, "what a day, you and Miranda finally marry, you're almost killed and your father returns from the blue, certainly a day to remember." Georgia giggled and nodded.

"Well it wouldn't be a Normandy wedding if there weren't a few twists and turns" she stated cheerfully, watching Miranda and John dancing together.

"What will happen to him now?" Garrus asked, snapping Georgia's attention back to him.

"I don't know, Hackett says he has to answer for his absence and a few other things, but beyond that I don't know, I guess we'll have to wait and see."

The rest of the evening passed fairly uneventfully, people would approach Georgia and Miranda to congratulate and wish them well, a few engaged John in conversation about his whereabouts and asked for stories of Georgia's childhood, and the Normandy crew simply enjoyed the first time they had to really unwind, Liara and Aria were now publically showing signs of affection towards each other, and so were Chakwas and Michel, much to Georgia's amusement.

The party ended with Miranda and Georgia standing by the open lift doors, Miranda threw the bouquet and EDI caught it, causing Joker's face to go red with embarrassment, as Georgia and Miranda entered the lift and went up to their quarters, the party guests leaving as the lift door closed.


End file.
